The San Diego Chargers announce they're moving to L.A., making media literacy part of the school curriculum, is the fish you ordered really the fish you're eating?
Chargers announce move to Los Angeles
The San Diego Chargers are moving to Los Angeles. A letter from team owner Dean Spanos posted Thursday morning on the team's website and Twitter account says the Chargers will make the move at the start of next season.
The Chargers have been in San Diego for 56 years. They will join Rams in giving the nation's second-largest media market two NFL teams for the first time in decades.
San Diego "will always be part of our identity, and my family and I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the support and passion our fans have shared with us over the years," Spanos wrote.
The letter continued:
"LA is a remarkable place, and while we played our first season there in 1960 and have had fans there ever since, our entire organization knows that we have a tremendous amount of work to do. We must earn the respect and support of LA football fans. We must get back to winning. And, we must make a meaningful contribution, not just on the field, but off the field as a leader and champion for the community."
A letter from Dean Spanos pic.twitter.com/rTNIvrsN1A
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) January 12, 2017
In a statement following the announcement, Mayor Eric Garcetti called L.A. "one of the world's great sports towns" and welcomed the Chargers.
"L.A. already has more visitors than ever before. The Chargers will make our NFL tradition even richer, and give sports fans everywhere one more reason to be in Los Angeles," Garcetti wrote.
But the team shouldn't expect such a warm reception from everyone here, writes LA Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke, who detailed his reasons why the team's move is a bad one in a column late Wednesday, before the announcement was official.
Summing up his stance: "We. Don’t. Want. You."
Matt Hall with the San Diego Union-Tribune and Allan Lopez of WeChargeLA.com will join Take Two to discuss.
This story has been updated.
Why it will take a 'family of baby Godzillas' to end the drought
Winter storms are bringing flooding and heavy snowfall to California this week.
In Northern California, the storms have replenished reservoirs to such an extent that experts say much of that part of the state is no longer in a drought.
Here in Southern California, while the wetter weather is a welcome respite, the drought is still very much a reality.
But could the tipping point be on the horizon?
Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, joined Take Two to discuss.
Interview highlights:
What's happening with our groundwater and reservoirs right now? Are we getting back what we lost?
We will probably never get back what we've lost from the groundwater, because that's been going on for a century. This is a difficult message to get across— we use so much groundwater, the depletion of our groundwater resources, especially in the Central Valley, has been going on for a century. During wet periods like this, even if this were to persist for a few years, we'd get some recovery, but unless we shift away from an agricultural economy, we'll likely never get it back what we've lost.
But on the upside, of course our reservoirs are being replenished and the snowpack is building, especially in the northern part of the state, so that's all great news, we just have to wait and see how the rest of the storm season will unfold.
According to NOAA and the National Drought Mitigation Center, which release the U.S. Drought Monitor, parts of Northern California are out of the drought. For those of us in the South, should we be encouraged by what's going on in the North?
Oh absolutely, but it's too early to say what the rest of the winter will look like. We're not really good at predicting what's going to happen in February, what's going to happen in March. So for the short term, reservoirs have been replenished, we're looking good for the short term. But we need that spring snowpack to get us through the rest of the year. You know, last year we talked about the Godzilla El Niño, so this is like a baby Godzilla storm that we've just had. And we need a whole family of baby Godzillas to make a big, healthy snowpack that will sustain us through the summer and into the next winter.
So if rain is falling, things are looking good, but we're not out of the woods, how do you keep up the messaging about conservation and better water management?
The messaging is difficult and messaging about total water use is more challenging. Meaning, when we look across the state and we think about how much water we use to grow food, that's something that I don't think the average person, certainly someone who lives in an urban area, really thinks about. So there's a long-term message that conservation remains important. Even when we have storms like we are experiencing, we have to make that water last and we have to keep our fingers crossed for more storms in the future.
The other part of it is that people don't understand how much we still rely on groundwater and that that groundwater is disappearing. I like to fall back to the income versus the bank account analogy. Rainfall and snowfall are like income, and the water in our reservoirs is like a checking account. Right now it's like we've got a job, and we're putting a little money in the checking account. We should try not to blow the money in the checking account, and the truth is that it's really difficult for that water to literally trickle down into our longer-term savings account, which is the groundwater, and that really hasn't changed much.
Questions and responses have been edited and condensed.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue media player above.
How heavy rains are affecting Northern California vineyards
More rain expected in Southern California through Thursday, but the weekend forecast: sunshine.
The showers are a welcome relief to most of parched California, but it's a mixed blessing for some.
As the drought enters its sixth year, the sudden deluge can be tough on agriculture. But some wine growers say it could be a boon in the long run.
The Russian River valley in Sonoma County has seen some of the heaviest rains in the past few days, with more to come. For more on how the area is being affected by the rains, you can check out the vineyard webcam that posts daily weather reports.
For more, Alex Cohen spoke to Chris O'Neill, owner of Russian River Vineyards.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Steve Allen Theater to close its doors
There's sad news for fans of live performance in Los Angeles. The word is out that the Steve Allen Theater in Los Feliz will be torn down to make way for a new building. Take Two's Alex Cohen spoke with Amit Itelman, founding artistic director.
Interview highlights
History
"It's been 14-15 years now and we've been doing shows— a lot of comedy, a lot of horror, a lot of music, a lot of uncategorical works."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH4kiI4oTng
"The theater is closing and it's retaining its underground status. We never really took off and I think there were a lot of advantages to that. A lot of of great performers wanted to have a venue where they could take risks and where they could do shows without being filmed. Where they'd workshop material without being reviewed. Without too many people knowing about it. So, Eddie Izzard and Marc Maron and Bill Burr and Laura Kightlinger— and all these really wonderful performers have done a lot of work there and developed a lot of material there."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDflbZA5LY
Closure
"It's gonna happen fast— the end of July. And I think they're going to tear it down for condos....We're not the first theater to close, we're not the first venue to close. It's happening all the time. You could say it's gentrification. It's change. And I don't think you can really fight that. So, I'm not looking necessarily to approach the end of the Steve Allen Theater from a point of sadness or bitterness about change. I don't think anything can stop that."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbNgePemEbQ
The future
"I've been working on a show called Bride of Blood which is a psychedelic bibliodrama. I've been working on it for 4 years.... That'll be the last run. I actually want to recreate the big bang on stage. I don't know how I'm going to do it but that's how I want to go out, with a big bang."
Quotes edited for clarity.
To hear the full interview, click on the Blue Media Player above.
Something's fishy in LA's sushi supply, study says
State of Affairs: CA budget, AG hearings, and a fight over a painting
On this week's State of Affairs, Governor Jerry Brown braces for a budget deficit, dueling Attorney General hearings on opposite coasts, and a fight erupts over a painting on Capitol Hill.
Marisa Lagos, political reporter for KQED, and Carla Marinucci, senior writer for Politico's California Playbook, joined Take Two for our weekly look at government and politics in the Golden State.
The Ride: Auto companies trying to stay on Donald Trump's good side
Since he won the election in November, Donald Trump has used Twitter to criticize auto makers who build cars in Mexico.
Yesterday, in his press conference, the President-elect complimented two companies. He mentioned Fiat-Chrysler, which has announced a plan to invest $1 billion in US plants and create 2000 new jobs. He also lauded Ford, which now says it will put its plans for a new plant in Mexico on hold, and invest in an existing production line in Michigan. But he seemed to chide the other member of the Big Three, saying he hoped GM would follow the other firms lead.
Our motor critic, Sue Carpenter, says auto execs are treading carefully, trying to stay on the right side of Donald Trump, while also wondering what he policies may be, and how they could effect their businesses. Clearly, Trump's threats to place tariffs on goods imported from Mexico would hurt car makers. And his promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement could complicate things for the auto business as well.
Carpenter also has an update on the VW emissions scandal, and a quick review of some of the more interesting cars being unveiled this week at the Detroit auto show.
Click the blue bar above to hear the full conversation.
Do you even news? Assembly Bill seeks to teach kids to spot fake news
A November study out of Stanford University exploring media literacy among youth confirmed what many likely knew: young folks don't really understand the news.
"Do they even news?" you ask?
But a new Assembly Bill, introduced Wednesday, seeks to end media illiteracy in the state by making "civic online reasoning" part of the curriculum for middle and high school students.
AB 155, submitted by Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez of the 51st district, would direct the Instructional Quality Commission (which advises the State Board of Education) to update several core subjects to incorporate the new skill.
Speaking Thursday to Take Two, Assemblymember Gomez said that the presidential race of 2016 is a prime example as to why a change is necessary.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Reading by Moonlight: upcoming releases, best book to screen adaptations
On this installment of Take Two's monthly segment on literature, Reading by Moonlight; the USC Libraries Scripter Awards, upcoming book releases, and keeping the tradition of literary criticism alive.
Alex Cohen spoke with David Kipen, founder of the lending library Libros Schmibros in Boyle Heights.
Highlights
An awards ceremony for book junkies
The Scripter Awards were started by USC in 1988... they rewards adaptations. Films and now, as of two yeas ago for reasons you could probably guess, television adapted from other material. And unusually, the award goes not just to the adapter but the author of the source material.
Nominees in film:
‘Arrival,’ ‘Fences,’ adapted from his own work by the late August Wilson, ‘Hidden Figures,’ ‘Lion,’ and ‘Moonlight.’
A common canard is that the director does all the visuals and the script is just a sort if blueprint that doesn't mention any of that, maybe the screenwriter help with the visuals. When in fact, the job of a screenwriter, and especially the job of an adapter is to take something that originated on the page... and make it visual. The director and the cinematographer certainly help in making it that much more visual. But this is an essential part of the screenwriter's job.
Nominees in episodes from television:
‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Man in the High Castle,’ ‘The Night Manager’ from John le Carré's novel, ‘Orange is the New Black,’ and ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson.’
2017 book releases
Over the next few months, you're going to have new books from Jonathan Lethem who is of course immensely talented. You're going to have new books from George Saunders...who's one of these guys who, like Borges, everybody keeps waiting for the novel. He keeps writing short stuff. Great stuff but we're sort of hardwired to wait for that novel. And now he has one coming about Lincoln called ‘Lincoln in the Bardo.’
And another book I'm really looking forward to is ‘Al Franken, Giant of the Senate.’ Al Franken who of course, was a comedy writer for all those years on Saturday Night Live.... To see Franken after years of sobriety since he entered the world's largest and most respected deliberative body, actually willing to be serious and funny at the same time, makes me really look forward to that book.
Opportunity for aspiring book critics
The Emerging Critics Initiative of the NBCC. Now more than ever, people are wondering where's the next generation of critics going to come from when there isn't room to squeeze them into the paper. Well, this is an initiative and it's competitive. Anybody out there, any aspiring book critics, any fledgling book critics, apply by January 27th. Maybe you could get a mentor.
Quotes edited for clarity.