Today on the show, we'll look at the MTA's plan to connect rail lines to LAX and why they scrapped a proposal to bring the line right into the airport. Plus, a new report shows that air pollution levels in certain California cities are not at ideal levels, our Friday Flashback looks at the week's biggest stories, David Broza's new album hopes to push for peace in the Middle East, your SoCal rain dance songs and much more.
MTA reviewing options to connect rail lines to LAX
Yesterday, the Metro Transit Authority decided to shelve plans for a metro line into LAX, but they're reviewing other options to help connect rail lines to LAX via people movers.
For the time being, if you're looking to take a train to a plane, you'll still need an automobile to get you to a terminal. For more we're joined by MTA CEO Art Leahy.
RELATED: Metro moves forward on options to connect LAX to rail
Smog levels in California cities still above federal standards
Air quality here in Los Angeles has been nasty the last week or so because of the Colby fire in Glendora. But overall, air pollution in California cities is down some 20 percent from a decade ago.
That doesn't mean we've got the all-clear. The California Air Resources Board says smog levels are still not where they're supposed to be. For details we're joined by LA Times reporter Tony Barboza, who reports on the findings in today's paper.
Rural community in Mendocino County running low on water
Adding to the poor air quality is the persistent dry weather we've been having in the state this winter is the driest on record.
Last Friday Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for California, but many communities across the state had already taken drastic action. The small township of Brooktrails in Mendocino County has been particularly hard hit.
This rural community in the Redwoods of Northern California depends on regular rainfall to fill its reservoirs. Right now, 80 percent of the water supply has been used up with no relief in sight.
Here to tell us how the town is coping is General Manager Denise Rose.
Friday Flashback: Syria, Edgar Tamayo, Virginia gay marriage and more
It's Friday! And that means it's time for another Friday Flashback, our look a the week in news. To help us with that we're joined this week by columnist James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times and Nancy Cook of National Journal.
The Syrian government and opposition representatives are at the United Nations in Geneva this week with the hope of ending the country's civil war. But, it looks like both sides are refusing to directly talk to one another.
Texas angered Mexico this week when it executed 46-year-old Edgar Tamayo. He was a Mexican national found guilty of killing a Houston cop after a bar fight in 1994. Why was this was so controversial?
The attorney general of Virginia, Mark Herring, decided that the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional and that he'll no longer defend it in federal lawsuits. Virginia is historically pretty republican -- how significant is this for the fight over gay marriage?
On to the economy, the World Economic Forum has been underway in Davos, Switzerland and we learned this week that the number of job openings and people leaving their jobs here in the U.S. reached a five-year high. It might not sound like it but this is actually good news.
In other economic news, a study this week found that — contrary to popular belief — income inequality has not gotten worse over the last 20 years. That could really affect the political debate we're having now and leading up to the mid-term elections. What does this really mean?
Looking ahead to next week, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union speech. The White House has been planning a big social media roll-out leading up to it. How will it compare to last year and what are you expecting to hear from it?
A new AP poll finds that less than a third of Americans consider Obama to be an above-average commander in chief, but nearly twice as many find him likable.
Speaking of the president, this week he also launched a federal task force to combat sexual assault on college campuses. This has been a controversial issue we've covered a lot here on Take Two, but why is a federal task force is being called in?
The President also made some comments this week about marijuana. He still opposes legalizing it but he called it no more harmful than alcohol. We also heard from Texas governor republic Rick Perry who seemed to be staking out a surprisingly liberal positions on it, implying he wants to and has taken steps to decriminalize it. How big of a deal is this?
Pop star Justin Bieber was arrested this week in Miami and charged with drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license. What would it take to get this guy deported?
Musician David Broza pushes for peace in the Middle East with new album
Trying to create social change with music is a tradition; think Bob Dylan, Gil Scott Heron or WAR.
Now singer/songwriter David Broza is taking a stab at a long simmering conflict and trying to bring together Israelis and Palestinians with his new album, "East Jerusalem West Jerusalem."
Broza has released more than 30 albums, during his career, with a few going platinum. This time he's recruited Israelis, Palestinians and artists from around the world to sing about change and push for peace in the Middle East. Broza joins the show with more.
Below - David Broza performs the song "One to Three" live in the KPCC studios.
SoCal Rain Dance: Song suggestions to bring on the rainfall
In case you haven't heard, it's really cold back East and in the Midwest, like it often is during winter.
NPR's All Things Considered recently did a segment about songs to help warm people up during the cold winter days. A cabin fever playlist of sorts. But it's certainly not cold here on the West Coast. In fact it's too hot and too dry for the middle of January. Put simply, we could use a little rain.
So, we have our own version of a weather playlist here on Take Two, but instead of cabin fever, we need a rain dance. And it's all based on your suggestions. Check out the playlist and the segment that was on the air.
Thanks for your contributions. I think I can feel that rain comin'.
Playlist and your contributions below:
Rubén Blades has the best rain song, 'Lluvia de tu cielo', and it's salsa, so it's totally danceable
— A Mejías-Rentas (@lataino)
@tessvigeland @taketwo Rubén Blades has the best rain song, 'Lluvia de tu cielo', and it's salsa, so it's totally danceable
— Antonio Mejías-Rentas (@lataino) January 23, 2014
Rain by The Cult http://t.co/DoMvJRMAgq
— OCLegend.Com (@oclegend)
.
Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR. And I hate to go east coast, but Make It Rain - Fat Joe.
— LetsGoLA (@VamonosLA)
.@KPCC @taketwo Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR. And I hate to go east coast, but Make It Rain - Fat Joe.
— Dingbattitude! 加油 洛杉矶 (@VamonosLA) January 23, 2014
.
also, need some reverse psychology w this drought, so California Dreamin' & Who'll Stop the Rain are in too.
— LetsGoLA (@VamonosLA)
.@KPCC @taketwo also, need some reverse psychology w this drought, so California Dreamin' & Who'll Stop the Rain are in too.
— Dingbattitude! 加油 洛杉矶 (@VamonosLA) January 23, 2014
"Rainmaker" by Harry Nilsson.
— Joe Napolitano (@JoeNapolitano)
@taketwo "Rainmaker" by Harry Nilsson.
— Joe Napolitano (@JoeNapolitano) January 23, 2014
Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand the Rain" & Billie Holiday's "Keeps On Rainin'"
— Anika (@faboomama)
"Escape" by Rupert Holmes!
— Brittany Levine (@brittanylevine)
1) November Rain by Guns n' Roses 2) No Rain by Blind Melon
— Tim Biden (@TimBiden)
Singing in The Rain
— Cathi Mims Yamaguchi (@MimsyYamaguchi)
@taketwo Singing in The Rain
— Mimsy (@MimsyYamaguchi) January 23, 2014
I'm Walking on Sunshine!
— Mr. Damage (@damagedgears)
Arizona same-sex couples challenge state laws
Across the country the legal landscape for same-sex marriage is changing, and fast. In the Southwest in recent weeks, courts in New Mexico and Utah have delivered victories to gay marriage proponents. Now in neighboring Arizona, some gay and lesbian couples are challenging their state’s definition of marriage.
From the Fronteras Desk, Jude Joffe-Block reports.
The two lead plaintiffs in the case are couple Joe Connolly and Terry Pochert. On a recent evening the pair prepared dinner together in their kitchen in Maricopa.
“Cheese soup for dinner tonight,” Pochert said.
“We like no-fuss meals,” said Connolly as he added croutons to a salad.
The couple has been sharing no-fuss meals for almost 19 years.
Before they ate, the two men said grace.
Pochert and Connolly’s faith – they attend a Lutheran church – is a big reason why they have decided to challenge Arizona laws that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.
“Gay and lesbian people in the state in faiths where they allow same-sex marriage — but the state does not — it is denying gay and lesbian people of faith the right to the sacrament of marriage,” Connolly said.
The couple was married legally in California in 2008.
“It would have been wonderful to have a church filled with people here in our own congregation and our friends,” Pochert said. “But we just couldn’t do it here in Arizona.”
Opponents of same-sex marriage argue allowing gays to marry would infringe on their own faith. And they’ve already weighed in.
In 2008, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, and reinforced existing state statutes. Arizona does not recognize legal same-sex marriages performed outside of the state, either.
Earlier this month, Pochert and Connolly filed a lawsuit with three other couples challenging those laws. Some of the plaintiffs have not been able to jointly adopt children in the state, because the state only allows a “husband and a wife” to jointly adopt.
LGBT advocates in the state are working on a ballot initiative campaign for 2016 that would repeal the 2008 constitutional amendment. But plaintiffs in the case say they prefer to take this issue to the courts.
Shawn Aiken, a lawyer Pochert and Connolly know from church, is representing the couples.
“This is a bit far away from what I normally work on,” said Aiken, who specializes in business law.
“But what makes it so exciting, I think for me and every lawyer is, these are the kind of cases that we hope to be involved in as members of the community. As students in law school, we just hope to be modestly close to a case an issue and clients that can change how many decades of discriminatory treatment," Aiken said.
Last June the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which had denied federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples.
Aiken’s argument challenging Arizona’s denial of state marriage benefits to his clients relies heavily on that decision.
“And to put it simply, it is to say, why can the state government do what the federal government cannot,” Aiken said.
The Supreme Court has still not yet weighed in on a key question, which is whether state bans on same-sex marriage are legal.
But the court’s ruling in June striking down DOMA gave many same sex-advocates a new sense of optimism that a majority of justices could be sympathetic to their arguments in a future case on that question.
“It really opened the floodgates to litigation, both by folks inside the movement and folks outside the movement,” said Douglas NeJaime, a UC Irvine law professor. “So that’s why we have seen now almost 40 lawsuit pending around the country in a variety of states.”
Lately, the pace of change has been dizzying.
In New Mexico, the state’s highest court ruled last month that same-sex couples could marry.
The next day, a federal district judge in Utah struck down that state’s ban. Federal district judges in Ohio and Oklahoma have also sided with gay couples.
But despite this, NeJaime said this legal debate is far from settled.
“Even though we have seen district courts favoring same-sex couples claims in the last few weeks, we are likely to see other decisions come out the other way,” NeJaime said.
In other words, rulings from other judges and appeals courts that say states do have the right to only recognize marriages between a man and a woman if they choose to.
In the past, this uncertainty in the courts prompted the LGBT movement to try to carefully plot out its legal moves.
But now there’s a flurry of litigation all over, and it includes some attorneys new to this legal area.
Jenny Pizer from the national LGBT advocacy group Lambda Legal said the energy at this moment is exciting, but it’s still vital all parties pushing for change stay coordinated.
“With any issue where a court case affects not just the litigants, but a whole community of people, folks in that community try to plan and work together to try to have good results in cases like that, because everyone has to live with the result,” Pizer said.
Any one of these pending lawsuits could wind up in front of the Supreme Court, which then could decide for the whole country whether states must recognize same-sex marriage.
The slow-building momentum behind gay marriage legalization
There's been a tremendous amount of momentum on the state level to legalize gay marriage. But prior to last summer's decision by the Supreme Court about DOMA and California's Prop 8 that movement was very slow. And that was on purpose.
To talk about this shift and the strategy by advocates to legalize gay marriage, we're joined for more by Douglas NeJaime, professor of law at UC Irvine
Despite benefits of full-day preschool, most state programs are half day
Last year, California subsidized preschool for about 135-thousand children - nearly 70 percent of them in half day classes. Monday through Friday, they attend school for three hours a day - either in the morning or the afternoon.
KPCC's Deepa Fernandes looked into what can be achieved in just a few hours - and how working parents coordinate such a short school day.
Google Glass brings a new view to the NBA's Sacramento Kings
Friday night, a dozen pairs of Google Glass will be worn during the Sacramento Kings game to bring new angles for fans to see the game, including the team mascot, Slamson the lion.
Jim Kovach is the vice president of business development for CrowdOptic and joined us to talk about integrating Google Glass into sports games.
2014 Mavericks big wave surfing competition is on
Every year, the surf world waits with rapt anticipation to see if conditions will be just right to deliver that perfect swell for the Mavericks Invitational big wave surfing competition.
And on Wednesday afternoon, the waves — and the good news — finally broke: Mavericks is on.
"I track the swells and when we find a swell that's going to deliver waves of 30 to 40 feet then we make the call," said Jeff Clark, Mavericks organizer. "Mavericks is actually breaking. My expectations are for some of the biggest waves we've ever seen at Mavericks."
So this morning at 8 o'clock, 24 intrepid surfers suited up for those monumental waves. The water patrol is on jet skis to assist with any emergencies and most of the surfers are wearing life preservers.
Watch Live: 2014 Mavericks Invitational
The Mavericks break is known for its treacherous conditions . In fact, two surfers have died there and shattered boards and bodies are a frequent sight during the competition. This year is expected to be among the most dramatic with sets of waves up to 40 feet.
Impact of The Long Walk still felt 150 years later
This month marks the 150th anniversary of what Navajo and Mescalero Apache people call The Long Walk, similar to the forced march known as the Trail Of Tears.
In 1864 the U.S. Army forced the Navajo and Apache to walk 400 miles from their reservation in northeastern Arizona to the edge of the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico. Thousands died during that long, arduous journey. From the Fronteras Desk, Laurel Morales reports.
These days, so many Navajos like musician Clarence Clearwater have moved off the reservation for work.
Clearwater performs on the Grand Canyon Railway — the lone Indian among dozens of cowboys and train robbers entertaining tourists.
“I always tell people I’m there to temper the cowboys,” Clearwater said. “I’m there to give people the knowledge that there was more of the West than just cowboys.”
Clearwater retraced his great-great-great-grandfather’s footsteps 50 years ago for The Long Walk’s 100th anniversary. Along the way he learned a song about going home.
“When we were on that Long Walk that was a song that I heard all the way over there and back,” Clearwater said. “It was very powerful.”
Clearwater said the stories he heard as he walked are haunting: A Navajo family gave away their baby to a non-Native family, so the infant would have a better chance at survival. Many drowned crossing the Rio Grande.
“Some of the older people were talking about how elders like themselves had just been left out in the desert, left where they fell,” Clearwater said. “In cases of them trying to rejoin and soldiers didn’t want them, they shot them and killed them.”
“The consequences of The Long Walk we still live with today,” said Jennifer Denetdale, a historian and a University of New Mexico professor. She said severe poverty, addiction, suicide, crime on the reservation all have their roots in The Long Walk. And she said the federal government has still not fulfilled its 1868 treaty promises to the tribes.
“So I think it’s really been a struggle to believe in our own ability to create on the Navajo Nation institutions and structures that will bring about prosperity and a way to live well,” Denetdale said.
They walked to Fort Sumner, which was essentially a prison camp where Colonel Kit Carson attempted to “tame the savages.” Today a giant mural there commemorates The Long Walk. On one panel are swirls of red and orange — the desert heat, a long line of families, a child on his mother’s back, a fallen elder, his son helping him up, behind them a soldier on horseback cracks a whip. Navajo artist Shonto Begay painted the mural.
“I could feel and hear the cries of the people, the trail, the heat, the cold,” Begay said. “Just to walk the grounds a lump in your throat like something bursting forth and I felt all the anguish of the ancestors.”
The Navajo culture is intrinsically tied to the Earth. Begay said many live or frequently return to the place where their umbilical cords are buried.
“When the umbilical cord is buried with honor among the Navajos, this is what holds you,” Begay said. “When your umbilical cord is buried in the Earth and it’s held by the Earth and you know it’s held by the Earth and you know the ground where it is, you feel at home and welcome anywhere in the world.”
The Long Walk was among many attempts by the federal government to wipe out Native culture. Others include sending Native children to boarding schools to eradicate their traditions. Begay said he was 5 years old, out herding sheep, when a man driving a flatbed truck gave him candy and hauled him away.
“I grew up with a different name, a government name, Wilson,” Begay said. "There were a lot of Johnsons, a lot of Washingtons. There were a lot of dead presidents and generals. In the early 1980s I reclaimed my great-grandmother’s name, Shonto.”
"Shonto" means light dancing on water. It is also the name of his town, his home where he remains connected today.
He wants his children and grandchildren to know their ancestors’ suffering and determination meant something.
“’Hey, your forefathers survived,’” he tells them. “’Make something of it. Honor it.’”
New Orleans-based Hot 8 Brass Band up for Grammy
If you're looking for something to do this weekend and you're wishing you were strolling Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
The Hot 8 Brass Band is in town for Sunday's Grammy Awards, but they're playing a set tonight at The Mint in mid-city Los Angeles. The group's Grammy-nominated album, "The Life and Times of the Hot 8 Brass Band", captures the energy and diverse sounds of the band's native New Orleans.
But it also explores the hardships of losing three members to street violence and living through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
We're joined now by two members of the band, Bennie Pete and Alvarez "Big Al" Huntley.