Six major gubernatorial candidates will meet in a town hall Saturday, we outline the things to look out for. Then, understanding mudslides.
3 things to listen for at the gubernatorial town hall Saturday
Six major gubernatorial candidates will meet in a town hall at USC's Bovard Auditorium Saturday. Though there have been candidate forums in the past, Saturday's event will be the first time the candidates have faced each other in public to answer questions.
They are:
- State Assemblyman Travis Allen
- State Treasurer John Chiang
- Attorney John Cox
- Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin
- Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
- Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
The event will air live on KPCC and will be streamed at abc7.com.
Whomever takes on the job will be tasked with leading the nation's most populous state at a pivotal point in its history. Among the issues likely to come across the future governor's table: healthcare, housing, and homelessness, the gas tax, immigration, disaster relief, and the state's fraught relationship with the White House.
Here's what KPCC's reporters will be listening for:
Michelle Faust, healthcare reporter: Details
- I'm going to be looking for details. If they are supporters of single payer, exactly what is that supposed to look like? There are many types of single payer. Every country that has a single payer or different type of universal healthcare system, they do it a little bit differently. So, how would California do that? And then — of course — how would we pay for it?
- When we look at how would we pay for healthcare systems, CHIP — the Children's Health Insurance Program at the federal level — still hasn't been renewed. What would happen if that isn't renewed or continues to have a shortfall in California?
- Cost of Medi-Cal — How will California deal with any changes to the federal funding mechanism for the program?
- What do they see as the future for Covered California?
Mary Plummer, senior politics reporter: Outshining Newsom
I'm interested to watch how the candidates will be going after frontrunner Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom. John Chiang recently changed his strategy; he had an attack website up that was specifically targeting Newsom that he recently took down. It will be interesting to see how the candidates position themselves. How they go after the frontrunner, who's been running in this race for a very, very long time.
Josie Huang, reporter: Standout housing ideas
- Everybody on the stage tomorrow — Republicans and Democrats — will all agree that runaway housing costs are dragging down the state. I want to see who's going to make the most compelling case to fix this seemingly intractable problem because the solutions that are being touted out there related to zoning and building density, these are kind of wonky issues. I'm wondering how they're going to sell the voters on their plans.
- Also, the two Dems who are talking the most about housing — Chiang and Newsom — I'm wondering how they're going to distinguish themselves from one another. Especially Chiang, who needs to make an impression and gain some ground on frontrunner Newsom.
Answers have been edited for clarity.
4 books to read that aren't 'Fire and Fury'
It's been a week since Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" stormed onto bookshelves. While booksellers are enjoying brisk sales, librarians report a similar phenomenon with checkouts.
"We haven't seen anything like it since the first day sales of the 'Harry Potter' books back in their heyday," said Peter Persic, spokesman for the Los Angeles Public Library. "What is particularly unusual is that this is a nonfiction book. Usually bestsellers of this magnitude are fiction."
The L.A. Public Library has 350 print copies of "Fire and Fury" on order. More than 2,400 holds have been placed.
But you have other options. Los Angeles Times Books Editor Carolyn Kellogg joined Take Two's A Martinez to walk him through some new titles.
"Red Clocks" by Leni Zumas
Red clocks is a reference to menstruation. The book is about a woman who's a professor. She wakes up one morning and there's a president who she didn't vote for and who thinks about reproductive rights in an archaic way that's alien from the pro-choice world.
Zumas takes it to the next degree where all these things around childbirth are being legislated. It's a post-"Handmaid's Tale" dystopia.
"Wonder Valley" by Ivy Pochoda
It starts out with a scene we've all seen a million times — a chase, seen from above. But it's not a car chase. It's a naked man running down the freeway.
This guy takes an action he wouldn't normally take. He jumps out of his car to help and his life is radically changed, intersecting with many other lives including those of a bunch of people in a utopian settlement in the desert. That's where the title "Wonder Valley" comes from.
"Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke
Locke is a crime novelist and was also a writer on "Empire." This is her first book since leaving the show's writing staff. It's the first book in a series.
The book features the black sheriff of a small town in Texas, as he investigates two murders that happen around the same time — the murder of a black person and the murder of a white person.
Even being a black law officer in Texas, where Locke is from, is freighted. On top of that, he's dealing with issues of race, power and the law.
"So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo
Oluo is a Seattle-based writer. She's a middle class, college-educated, queer black writer who was brought up by a single white mom. She talks about all of those things in this book.
She asks big questions — What is privilege? What is systemic racism? — in a way that might make a lot of people feel more comfortable talking about these huge issues.