How do California's strict gun laws match up with President Obama's 23 executive order for gun control? Then, Oakland, California is caught in a turmoil of gun violence because of a gang feud. We also look at the rich history of the Presidential inaugurations and the role music plays in ushering the President into office. Plus much, much more.
How do California gun laws match up to Obama's 23 executive orders?
President Obama issued 23 executive orders on gun control yesterday.
We talk with Lawrence Rosenthal, professor of law at Chapman University, about how the proposed laws match up with the current laws on the books in California.
The following are the 23 Executive Actions the President announced Wednesday:
Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
Nominate an ATF director.
Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
Gang feud leaves Oakland caught in turmoil and gun violence
Gun violence is of special concern to residents in the northern California city of Oakland.
Last Friday, in a period of just six hours, four people were fatally shot. Oakland's Chief of police has blamed a spike in violence in recent months on a feud between two gangs. The feud began last summer over the death of a young woman.
For more on this we're joined now by reporter Mina Kim of member station KQED.
The 'rich' history of the Presidential inauguration
There's a rich history to the Presidential inaugurations of the past. Emphasis on the "rich."
President Obama has raised at least $42 million for when he re-takes the oath of office. It's a far cry from the event's humble beginnings.
For a look at the history of the inauguration, and how it brings together regular people with DC's elite, is Kenneth C Davis, historian and author of, "Don't Know Much About the American Presidents."
The role of music in Presidential inauguration
Music plays a big role during presidential inaugurations.
At what will be the 57th inaugural ceremonies, and President Barack Obama's second, Beyonce will sing the national anthem. Also performing at various festivities will be Brad Paisley, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, the entire cast of the TV show "Glee."
It's a big gig for a musician for sure, and a tough one. After all you have to find just the right tone.
Music critic Steve Hochman has some thoughts on what these artists could and should perform.
Why didn't the sports media fact check the story of Manti Te'o's girlfriend?
What to make of the news of Manti Te'o today? If you're unfamiliar with him, he's the Notre Dame linebacker who nearly won the Heisman Trophy this season amid intense personal tragedy.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, In the span of six hours last September, Te'o had lost his grandmother and his girlfriend, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. It was a story that was made for the headlines: a story of a Mormon linebacker leading his Catholic school to victory while mourning the loss of two loved ones.
However, in a shocking report by Deadspin, the widely reported story of Te'os girlfriend dying of leukemia, was not true, namely because the girl herself does not appear to exist. In fact, the picture used in her online profiles is not her at all, but another 22-year-old woman who does not have cancer and has never met Te'o in her life.
Is Te'o the victim of an elaborate hoax in which the girlfriend he met online was fabricated, like in the 2010 movie "Catfish"? Did Te'o himself make up the tragic story of the non-existent girlfriend?
Whatever the real story, perhaps the biggest mystery is why the sports media was so receptive to a story so phony it reads like an elevator pitch to a Hollywood movie.
NPR's David Folkenflik is here to unspool this tale of myth-making and myth dismantling.
The Dinner Party: Worst restaurant meals, the first roller coaster, and more
Every week we get your weekend conversation starters with Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam, the hosts of the Dinner Party podcast and radio show. On tap this week, the worst thing on a dinner menu, the birth of the roller coaster and going to the grave in style.
City Hall Pass: Medical marijuana, Mayor race, and more
An issue that seems to be evergreen here in Los Angeles: medical marijuana. The city council decided yesterday to put a third pot measure on the ballot for the upcoming city election.
That's just one of the political developments on the agenda for this week's installment of City Hall Pass, your ticket to all the latest political news out of downtown with KPCC's Frank Stoltze and Alice Walton.
Fresno garbage collectors fight against privatization
A messy fight is brewing in Fresno over the city's decision to privatize residential garbage collection. This week, garbage workers are doing some heavy lifting to try and bring the issue to the ballot box. The California Report's Sasha Khokha has the story.
Study shows more than 400 women denied rights due to pregnancy
Next Tuesday marks 40 years since the decision in the landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade. The issue of abortion has been a topic of debate ever since, as conservatives and liberals have fought over how to interpret the court's ruling.
That national conversation has also examined that gray area where the rights of the mother and of the fetus intersect. We recently came across a study put out by the Journal of Health, Politics and Policy and Law that says that, since Roe v. Wade, more than 400 women have been denied their rights because of their pregnancy.
Lynn Paltrow is a lead author of the study and the Executive Director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. We asked her what kind of cases she had looked at as part of her research.
UPDATED: Study shows ER visits tied to energy drinks doubled since 2007
A new report of the nation's hospitals found a sharp increase in the number of emergency room visits triggered by energy drink consumption. The report, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is the most comprehensive look yet at the safety of energy drinks.
We'll speak to Garance Burke, investigative reporter for the Associated Press based in San Francisco.
CORRECTION: In the audio version of this story, we included a compliation intended to illustrate the content of energy drink commercials. We mistakenly included a clip for "Power Thirst." As at least one listener pointed out, Power Thirst is not a real product, and the audio clip we used was, in fact, part of a energy drink ad parody, produced by a YouTube user.
Budget cuts hurt ESL classes in California public schools
English class offerings at public schools are always in high demand, but because of budget cuts, many of those classes have been cut or eliminated. The California Report's Chris Richard has the story.
California is home to a quarter of the nation's adults who speak little or no English. The state used to have a huge number of these people enrolled in language classes, but recession-battered school districts statewide have slashed or even eliminated such programs.
When the Fontana Adult School opens its enrollment office each day, there's always a long line, with not enough Spring semester classes to go around.
During a recent visit, some Egyptian Coptic nuns -- newly arrived in the country -- stepped to the counter. Sister Lisette Fakhoury knows the most English and did most of the talking in arranging English classes for the group. But when it came to Sister Lisette's own paperwork, the clerk hesitated.
"So, you are in high intermediate, but that class is full," she said, her voice apologetic. "So, um, we are able to put you in the multi-level class. Are you able to do those classes?"
Sister Lisette looked disappointed, but nodded.
"OK," she said.
Fontana principal Cindy Gleason says educational research shows that English as a second language classes are key to job advancement, better parenting and civic engagement. That's her own experience with adult students.
"They get excited. They come back," she said. "They report to the teachers 'I got a raise at work.' Others come back and report that they were able to have a very successful meeting with the teacher at the school."
Until recently, adult education was protected under California law, with state funds specifically dedicated to that purpose. But three years ago, legislators cut adult ed funding by about 20 percent. They also permitted school districts to use dollars earmarked for adult education to offset reductions in state allocations for other programs. At Fontana Adult School, the English language program has shrunk by 90 percent.
There wasn't room for Maria Flores in a second-tier English course.
"They put me in the basic course. And that's 'Hello, Good Morning, How are you?' I already know that," she said in Spanish. "I need to practice, but often, there's no room."
Principal Cindy Gleason says with funds so short, students often have to settle for English classes that don't match their abilities. She's not sure how long Fontana Adult School can maintain even this basic level of service.
"Sometimes it can be discouraging not to know whether additional cuts are still coming and how we'll be able to offer the services that our students and community need," she said.
School districts across the state face the same uncertainty. The California Council for Adult Education estimates that 70 percent of the state money that once supported adult programs, most of which were English classes, now funds instruction for children.
The Los Angeles Unified School District has cut its adult education program by 75 percent. Once, the district offered English classes at hundreds of neighborhood sites. This year, the district is eliminating those leases.
Adult education administrator Andres Ameigeiras hopes to fill the gap with regional centers which would offer automotive and other vocational classes by day and English by night. Next month, the school district will open a full class schedule at the newest of these in the city of Bell, just south of downtown Los Angeles. Auto mechanic classes already are underway.
"We're moving to move as many people for the dollar as we can," Ameigeiras said, above the whir of a car hoist as students practiced changing the oil. "The biggest bang for the buck as the old saying goes."
But adult English classes could be moving away from school districts altogether. In his budget proposal last week, Gov. Jerry Brown advocated setting aside some $300 million for adult programs while shifting them to community colleges.
But for some students, the process of learning a new language starts at what would ordinarily be the elementary school level.
At the nonprofit Centro Latino for Literacy near downtown Los Angeles, English instruction for some students starts with teaching them to read and write in Spanish. Centro president Mari Riddle says there are some 216,000 functionally illiterate Spanish-speaking immigrants in Los Angeles alone.
"We've had students that come in and say, 'I have walked past LA Trade Tech for years. I would never venture in to that campus. It's too overwhelming. It's too daunting.'"
Last summer, President Barack Obama offered some young immigrants the opportunity to remain in the United States without the threat of deportation if they could show they were in school or had graduated. Enrollment in Spanish-language adult education classes surged.
Immigration policy experts expect a similar spike in demand for adult English classes once Congress agrees on immigration reform legislation. But they don't expect corresponding federal funding to pay for the classes, and where the money will come from remains an open question.
Map: Do Californians have an accent? Listen to some examples and add your own
Californians. We just don't think of ourselves as having accents. New Yorkers have accents. People from the South have accents, but not us, right?
Sure there's the vowel-shifting "Valley Girl," and the "Surfer," but is that it?
Penelope Eckert, professor of linguistics and anthropology at Stanford, disagrees. She and her team of researchers are traveling all over the state to prove it by conducting a study called Voices of California.
"There really isn't just one California accent," said Eckert. "California is a very large, very diverse state, and we're interested in what kind of linguistic diversity there is in California and to what extent there is commonality across the state that distinguishes it from other regions of the country."
Eckert explains that there are a number of accent throughout the state, including ones tinged with Southern twang, thanks to early Dust Bowl migrants from Oklahoma and elsewhere in the South. There's also a version of clipped English spoken by Japanese Americans who had spent their adolescence in internment camps.
"This particular way of speaking, that clipness…this is something that that generation of speakers, who are all native speakers of English, have in their English, but the next generation does not," said Eckert.
The large number of Latinos in California also have a large impact on California English. Eckert explains that in doing work with kids in San Jose, she notices that Anglo boys pick up features of Chicano English. "I would say that there are probably way in which Chicano English has affected all dialects in California," said Eckert.
What do you think the California accent sounds like? We're partnering with KQED in San Francisco to get your thoughts on the subject. Hit the record button below to record your best impression of the California accent from your computer. KPCC, KQED, and The California Report may feature your voice on our air or website.
And scroll down to listen to some potential samples of the California accent.
Will Dunkin' Donut's SoCal expansion hurt mom and pop shops?
Did you hear that yelp of joy? That was your friend, the East Coaster, learning Dunkin' Donuts is expanding into Southern California. More than 150 stores starting in 2015.
Others, though, wonder whether the Massachusetts chain will threaten doughnut business at the mom 'n pop shops that dot L.A.'s rich food landscape.
For more, we're joined by two doughnut experts from each of the coasts. Dan Pashman hosts the Sporkful podcast and blog from New York, and Zach Brooks blogs about the L.A. food scene at MidtownLunch.com.