New changes are easing travel restrictions to Cuba. Plus, Mexican consulates in the U.S. can now issue birth certificates to its immigrants. And, a look at a mysterious die-off of sea birds along the Pacific Coast.
It's now a little easier to get to Cuba, and you can buy cigars with credit cards
Yesterday the Obama Administration announced new guidelines with regard to the travel policy with Cuba.
While the travel ban, imposed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960, has not been lifted, the changes will make it far easier for Americans to visit and send money to the island nation.
It'll also be easier to pick up that box of cigars. You can now use US-issued credit cards and debit cards to buy things in Cuba.
Those new rules go into effect Friday.
Roberto Suro is a Professor of Journalism and Communication at USC and he's traveled to Cuba many times with his students.
He speaks to A Martinez about what it means now that travel there is easing up.
Where to find the best lechon and mojitos in Cuba
Now that more Americans could potentially be traveling to Cuba, the question arises - where to eat? The isolated country has had a bad reputation for its dining scene in recent decades with tight government control over how restaurants operate and what is available to serve.
Our intrepid food contributor, Bill Esparza, who writes for Los Angeles Magazine and his own blog Street Gourmet LA, recently traveled to Cuba and found there are good eats to be found ... if you know where to look for them.
Check out photos from Bill's travels in Cuba on his instagram feed: @StreetGourmetLA
Martin Luther King Jr's lost speech at UCLA found 50 years later
Last September, Take Two brought you the story of recent UCLA graduate Derek Bolin, who had salvaged and digitized and the more than 300 speeches given at UCLA since the 1950s.
The speeches— from the likes of Carol Burnett, Muhammad Ali and Joan Rivers— are now accessible to the public online. But the speech given by Martin Luther King on April 27, 1965 took some extra digging to find.
While King's visit to UCLA in 1965 was a part of campus lore (a plaque marks the spot where the speech was delivered) the tape of the speech wasn't located with the others that Bolin had found.
"We knew that there was this speech out there," Bolin says, "we were hoping that maybe some other department on campus had found it."
After considerable searching in the archives, Bolin and Professor Tim Groeling, Chair of the UCLA Department of Communication Studies, finally found the tapes in a cabinet that had been blocked by shelves stacked with old beta players and other equipment. Bolin says the find was "a eureka moment."
UCLA professor of African American studies Paul Von Blum says the speech marks an important transition point in the civil rights movement. It was after the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
"This was part of the time when the movement was changing. It was moving I think from the more nonviolent phase to a more militant tradition of black power. And Dr. King's speech at UCLA reflected both the anxiety of some progress and still a great deal of problems with racism in the United States," Von Blum says.
A civil rights activist himself, Von Blum was on the National Mall in August of 1963 when Dr. King gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.
"I remember those final words on the March on Washington and when I read the transcript of this speech it brought me back 50 years ago and it moved me tremendously. 'Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.' But we have to keep that vision in mind and we have to keep working [toward] that."
Leimert Park: Big changes for LA's historic heart of African American culture
Leimert Park has long been a cultural and artistic hub for African-Americans in Los Angeles, home to jazz clubs, cafés and art galleries. Now big changes are coming to the neighborhood. There's a new metro stop, the multimillion-dollar renovation of a historic theater and the conversion of a main thoroughfare into a pedestrian walkway.
"It's so exciting," said Sherri Franklin, an urban designer and one of the leaders of a group overseeing the revitalization, called the 20/20 Vision Initiative. She said the plans are tied to the legacy of the area.
"Culture, and the economy of culture and art, is a driving force here in Leimert," said Franklin. "The plans, such as the renovation of the historic Vision Theater, first built in 1931, aim to draw on that."
On a recent visit to the theater, she pointed out the original terrazzo tiles beneath the neon marquee, an indication that the first phase of the renovations is complete.
"Beautiful," said Franklin, looking out from the lobby, where the curb had already been painted red, ready for a broad walk street in the main business district. "It is changing."
Crenshaw Line expansion
Another big change is a planned Metro stop just a block from the Vision Theater, where these days a chain link fence borders the street, marking where the entrance to the underground station will be. It's part of a $2 billion expansion on the 8.5-mile line that will run south from Exposition Boulevard. It's expected to open in 2019, according to the MTA.
The station came to Leimert after a long fight led by business owners and community leaders.
"It’s on the move again and it’s going to be very good," said Sika, a jewelry maker and sculptor, who owns an African art shop on Degnan Boulevard.
Dwight Trible, director of The World Stage, a performance space a few doors down from Sika's, agrees. He said he welcomes the metro station and the potential for more business and foot traffic, but he said he's also concerned about what all that could bring.
"You don’t miss things until it’s gone," said Trible. "The reason that you're coming here in the first place is because Leimert Park was started as a grassroots movement with grassroots artists."
Many of those artists have a home in places like The World Stage, which was founded in 1989 by jazz drummer Billy Higgins, pianist Horace Tapscott and poet Kamau Daáood.
As more people come to the area, Trible said he hopes that legacy will be preserved.
"I pray that they will remember how this thing started and why they are here," said Trible.
Some of that uncertainty is shared by business owners.
On a recent afternoon, James Fugate, the co-owner of the Esowon Bookstore, pointed down the block, where about half the storefronts were closed in the early afternoon. He said the area needed more people and businesses with regular hours.
One store that was open was the Ackee Bamboo Jamaican restaurant, where owner Marlene Sinclair-Beckford sat and looked out over a near-empty room of tables.
"I look forward to the change," said Beckford. "I perceive that the rent will go up, but I strongly believe our business will pick up and we'll be able to cover it."
All of this potential for change raises a deeper question of ownership among African-Americans in Leimert Park and what’s considered progress, said Ben Caldwell, founder of the KAOS Network, a media group and performance space.
"Our community is owned by blacks, but they’re owned by a new sense of what black is. It’s not a BBQ shop, it’s not a beauty shop, it’s high finance and brokering," said Caldwell. "We have to re-look at what black is and black ownership within this 21st century."
Clarification: The Crenshaw/LAX line is an expansion of the overall metro system. The Crenshaw/LAX line itself is scheduled to open in 2019.
Correction: World Stage Executive Director Dwight Trible’s last name was mispelled in the original post of this story. It’s been corrected. KPCC regrets the error.
Spare Parts: The story of four underprivledged students who beat MIT in a robot showdown
In 2004, four teenagers took first place in a national underwater robotics championship at the University of California Santa Barbara. To say they were underdogs is more than an understatement. They were high schoolers, competing against students from universities like MIT. They had a meager budget, no experience, some of them weren't even in the country legally. Their journey is chronicled in the book and the new film "Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream."
In the first interview, Alex Cohen's joined by the book's author, Joshua Davis. While in the second interview, Cristian Arcega, one of the students profiled in "Spare Parts" joins her on the line from Arizona.
Controversial California missions founder Junipero Serra to become Saint
The Catholic Church may have a new Saint to pray to.
Pope Francis announced Thursday that he will canonize Father Junipero Serra, the founder of California's missions. The Pope said the canonization -- the formal elevation of a person to sainthood -- will take place in September when he visits the United States.
Junipero Serra is a controversial figure, though, for his role in evangelizing the West -- a process that some say began the decimation of the Native American population.
For more, Stephen Hackel joined Take Two. He's a Professor of History at UC Riverside and the author of "Junípero Serra: California's Founding Father."
How did the measles spread at Disney parks?
Forty-three: That's the total number of the measles cases now in the Western United States.
Of those cases, 39 are in California. Most of those patients visited Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure last month.
The measles illness was eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but it's still prevalent in a number of countries.
Health officials don't have information on all of these new cases, but at least 18 people were unvaccinated, and a few of them had received the measles vaccine.
Southern California Public Radio health reporter Rebecca Plevin explains how these people came down with measles.
Read Rebecca Plevin's full story: Measles tally at Disney parks jumps to 33
Weekend on the cheap: Photo LA, Lego play, and celebrate MLK
Great news — a three day weekend is upon us!
We're celebrating L.A. Arts Month with film, photography and dance. Oh, and there's a new ramen shop in town.
Every Friday, our social media producer Kristen Lepore brings in her list of things in Southern California to relax or entertain you on the cheap! And she's here to help plan your your weekend.
For a full list of events, click here.
Correction: We stated the Long Beach MLK parade is Monday. It is Saturday. KPCC regrets the error.
US Mexican consulates offer immigrants access to birth certificates
A few weeks ago, California began issuing driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. Now, those from Mexico can get another important form of identification here: their birth certificates.
All 50 of the Mexican consulates in the U.S. are now allowed to issue these documents.
Amy Taxin, who writes about immigration in Southern California for the Associated Press, brings us more.
Cassin's auklets mysteriously dying along Pacific Coast
It's a mystery that's taking place from the shores of British Columbia to San Luis Obispo: A massive die-off of Cassin's auklets.
The deaths of the small, gray and white sea birds are stumping scientists.
Julia Parrish, founder and lead researcher at the Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team at the University of Washington, has more on what's happening with these birds.
Berkeley, Yale, UC San Diego researchers delve into animal die-offs
Mass die-offs of birds and fish population are rare, but they do happen, and can have a devastating effect on the rest of the ecosystem.
Researchers at Yale, Berkeley and UC San Diego are investigating the phenomenon. Post doctoral researcher Samuel Fey, the study's lead author, joins Take Two from Yale.
Appropriate Behavior: Desiree Akhavan on being Iranian, bisexual and coming out to her parents
The new film "Appropriate Behavior" is about a young Iranian American woman named Shirin living in New York. One night at a New Year's Eve party, she meets a lesbian named Maxine. The two hit it off and soon enough wind up moving in together. Yes, Shirin is bisexual, but she hasn't told her parents that yet. The whole process of coming to terms with who she is and coming out to her immigrant parents is played out in the movie.
Desiree Akhavan, the film's writer and director, joins Alex Cohen in studio to talk about how her own real life coming out inspired her character in the film.