How we assess homelessness in our region, the Senate has until February 8th to come up with an immigration compromise, what officials are doing with Montecito's mud.
Any DACA legislation faces long odds
When Democrats in the Senate agreed to end the government shutdown Monday, they did so having faith that the DACA legislation their constituents crave would be discussed at a later date. After all, Majority leader Mitch McConnell promised.
But anyone who mistakes McConnell's vow for progress in the DACA debate might soon face a disappointing reality: there is no guarantee that the Senate will agree on legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for the nation's nearly 800,000 young people stuck in legal limbo, 200,000 of whom live in California.
If a bill were to clear the Senate, it faces long odds in the House. And if that bill managed to survive, it would find itself at the mercy of a president who has proven to be a challenging negotiating partner.
So say two immigration experts in a recent discussion on Take Two. The Hoover Institution's Jeremy Carl and USC's Manuel Pastor may have differing views on how to tackle the nation's toughest immigration questions, but they can agree on one thing: finding a way to bring the certainty that only permanent status can provide to young immigrants is going to be a slog.
Here are highlights from their conversation.
Jeremy, Democrats in the Senate, are hopeful that a deal can be reached, but exactly how seems a lot more uncertain now than ever. Looking just at Republicans in the Senate, what would they need to pass a bill that would create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients?
I think the key things that would have to happen are reforms on chain-migration and an end to the visa lottery. I think when you look at the president, there's going to have to be something done that is significant on the border wall because that has been a core part of something that he's promised voters ever since his campaign.
Manuel, we've heard that the president must have funding for a border to sign any legislation. Focusing just on the Democrats, what are they going to need to be a lot more flexible to make a deal a reality.
I think it's going to be tough for the Democrats because — just like the Republicans are [pushed] by their right wing that wants to be restrictive on immigration reform — Democrats are being tugged by a newly energized, progressive wing that is quite opposed to any of the extras that have been proposed for an immigration bill. They're facing a lot of pressure for a so-called "Clean Dream Act," which would just deal with the Dreamers or DACA recipients. But there is going to be pressure to make a deal, and I think it will have the aspects that Jeremy is talking about.
Jeremy, Republican Whip Steve Scalise has said that even if the Senate passes a bill, Republicans might not give it an eyeball. For Republicans in the House, what would it take for a piece of legislation to survive the house?
Certainly, you're not going to see any "Clean Dream Act," no matter what from Republicans in the House or the Senate. So the question is what are the other things in there?
In the House, you need to see meaningful border security provisions and meaningful reforms to our existing immigration system. I think those are — frankly — going to have to be shown to be real before there's going to be any legalization. I think it's a shame because there is an impetus to get something done here and if this becomes something that is about the welfare of people that are here now, I think there's a deal to be done. If it's going to be about future flows, I think there's not going to be a deal to be done.
Manuel, what about Democrats in the House?
What Republicans are proposing in the House is a path for the Dreamers that includes no route to citizenship or even permanent legal status — pretty dramatic decreases in legal immigration. A lot of those will be very hard for Democrats in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to swallow.
(Answers have been edited for clarity. Full interview available to hear.)
The Greater LA Homeless Count spotlights an ongoing issue for the county
The annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is underway. The count started Tuesday and takes place over three nights.
This year Peter Lynn, director of the L.A. Homeless Services Authority, said there's been a surge in volunteers turning out to help. The volunteers walk and drive each section of L.A. county, tallying the number of homeless individuals they see.
A demographic study of Los Angeles' homeless population is also taken at this time to give a better understanding of their needs and what services could help them best, Lynn explained
He said it is hard to predict right now what results the numbers will show.
"I try to keep a neutral expectation, let the data speak for itself. Obviously we're all hopeful that the numbers would go down, but I want the data to speak for itself."
However, with last year's count showing homelessness in the county was up 23% over the previous year, Lynn acknowledged that this was an ongoing issue for L.A.
"It's certainly a very visible part of our landscape now, which is one of the reasons why Angelenos are turning out in record numbers to volunteer to participate in the count, and why they turned out last year in overwhelming majorities to vote for resources to address homelessness."
Voters passed Measure H, a 1/4-cent sales tax, in March to provide about $355 million a year for homeless services in the county. Also, Proposition HHH passed in November 2016, adding $1.2 billion in bond money to the City of L.A.'s fund for low-income housing.
In addition to more services, Lynn said, in the long-term, Los Angeles just needs more housing to fight the homelessness problem.
Why Anaheim officials are committed to clearing out tent city
Orange County is clearing the Santa Ana River Trail, where as many as 500 homeless people have been living in a sprawling tent city. This week, government officials began telling them they need to leave. But many who live along the trail are unsure where they'll go.
"When I asked people where do you plan to go, people would say, 'I have no idea,'" said Eve Garrow, homelessness policy analyst and advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union in Orange County.
Garrow was at the river trail Monday. She spoke with some of the people who live there.
"There were a lot of tears; there was a lot of anxiety. It was just actually quite devastating," Garrow said.
Those who live near the Santa Ana River Trail have complained about the homeless there for years. It's raised safety and health concerns for local government officials, which is what prompted them to begin to clear the area.
"There's been broad-based outreach and services for months now in anticipation of closing these encampments," said Kris Murray, Councilwoman for the city of Anaheim.
Murray said that the various outreach services have yielded promising results.
"We have helped more than 255 since September alone safely exit the streets and to either temporary shelter or into rehabilitation or connecting veterans and individuals who are eligible for veterans affairs."
Murray said getting people out of this three-mile tent city is part of a larger effort to get them help. In short, it's not just a removal effort.
"The absolute priority is to connect individuals with service," Murray said.
While Garrow understands the concerns about the tent city, both from city residents and people who are staying along the trail in tents, she still wants the people there treated with respect during the process.
"I agree that this [tent city] is not a safe or an appropriate place for anybody to be living," Garrow said. "I don't think that the answer, though, is to remove people really without giving them a place to go, a safe and legal alternative. So people will just end up in some other unsheltered location."
New evidence about traumatic brain injury
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE, is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma. It's an issue that's caused much concern among pro football players and also parents of young athletes.
But a new study from Boston University seems to suggest that repetitive hits to the head, often considered incidental and part of the normal flow of the game, could be the most dangerous of all.
Last year, Take Two's A Martinez spoke with Dr. Daniel Daneshavar, who is also with Boston University, about another study, in which his team examined the brains of deceased NFL players.
Out of the 111 brains studied, 110 had CTE, which is known to cause memory loss, depression, and dementia. Here's what Daneshavar told us about his results.
I think that the days are gone where we can pretend that this is not a major issue among professional athletes and individuals with high exposure to repetitive brain trauma.
We spoke to
about the National Football League, and how it has changed its protocols related to players that may have suffered a concussion. Among the changes, if a player, who does not have a leg or related type of injury, stumbles or falls to the ground while trying to stand, they will be sent directly to the locker room for examination. The player can return to play only after passing an examination.
But now, with the new information about the repetitive hits, Andy wondered if more action needs to be done.
What's noteworthy about these findings is that most hits, over the course of the game, don't signal concussion - meaning that the goal of testing for concussion during the course of a game, after a big hit where players come off of the field ... it's a very narrow focus, and the study would suggest, too narrow.
We also talk to them about concussion prevention in youth sports, and not only in football, but also soccer. The California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports in California, acknowledges that data now shows the link between catastrophic head injuries and the practice of having an injured athlete returning to play too soon. They require that all coaches must receive concussion training.
Thomas Fire alert system worked as intended, Ventura County officials say
Where Montecito's mud is going, and how it's affecting the Pacific
It's been more than two weeks since a mudslide swept through Montecito. While much of the mud remains, a lot of it is being moved to the beaches in nearby Goleta and Carpinteria. Tom Fayram is Deputy Director of the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department. He joined Take Two's A Martinez to talk about the cleanup effort.
The source of the mud, and where it's going
It's mud from our County public roadways, the creek channels and it's being located at areas in Carpinteria -- the end of Ash Avenue right at the ocean -- and also at the county park which is Goleta Beach.
Why Goleta and Carpinteria were chosen
Those places were chosen for the accessibility that we have, and they've been historically used for past emergency response efforts when you have to get rid of a large amount of sediment in a short amount of time because we're still in the middle of winter, so we need to prepare for another rainfall event.
How the mud is cleared from the beach
When you come back to the beach first thing in the morning, when we start again, there's no mud, so nature does a really good job of sorting that material out and keeping the coarse material on the beach where we want it and the finer material gets carried off.
What's in the mud
We've had a disastrous event here. Part of our recovery efforts are to quickly get our roadways open, and certainly in terms of the testing, we're starting to do testing now, but it has to be kept in mind that this material, if we did nothing, would end up at the beach. Most of the material came off the natural forest. We don't have industrial sites up there as the source of this sediment.
Santa Barbara County will move mud to the beach through February
Our permit allows us to continue this operation until the end of February, and then we will evaluate along the way. We are looking at other sources, and there are discussions about after the initial emergency is over, are there locations we can dispose of it in an upland area rather than at the beach.
When the beaches in Goleta and Carpinteria will re-open to the public
Our health department continues to test those beaches. It goes on to be tested and then the public health department advises when those beaches will be open.
With so much of the mud from this month's mudslides being moved to Santa Barbara's beaches, we wanted to know how it's affecting the Pacific Ocean. Larry Fay is Santa Barbara County's Director of Environmental Health Services.
Water quality off Santa Barbara County coast does not meet health standards
Since the storm and mudslides, we've had consistently poor water quality pretty much throughout the south coast area of Santa Barbara County extending from El Capitan State Park all the way to the county line with Ventura County. We sample for three groups of bacteria, and pretty much on the beaches that are exceeding state standards, we're finding they're exceeding for all three.
How the water off Santa Barbara County compares with other beaches
The day following the storm, we sampled from Gaviota to Santa Barbara about eight or nine beaches. All of them exceeded the standards. Later in the week, when we resampled, Gaviota and Refugio to the west were acceptable. With respect to the mudslides in Montecito, there was a continuing input of source from all of that debris, and we continue to see elevated bacteria.
What causes elevated bacteria in the water
In an urban area, there are all kinds of contaminants in the soil, on the soil, on the streets, whatever trash people leave behind. That all contributes to that first flush of the rain that gets into the ocean. What might be different in this case is the continuing levels of bacteria even though we haven't had rain in some time.
What's in the runoff and making its way to ocean
When you have an event like we had in Montecito and the upper water sheds, a lot of the homes are on septic systems. We don't know how many of those were damaged or failed and contributed to the runoff. You're going to figure that your flood waters are intermixed with sewage. As a matter of great caution, we tell folks to treat this as if it's contaminated with sewage.
If someone goes in the water, what could happen to them
Mostly you would be concerned about ingestion, so if you're swimming and get a mouthful, I would not be surprised if they experience gastroenteritis, same as if you got food poisoning.
Santa Barbara County's plan for monitoring the water going forward
We sample on a weekly basis normally. At Goleta and Carpinteria we have gone to twice weekly. We've increased the number of sampling sites at both locations so we have more detailed information about the ocean water quality. Those are the two beaches were storm sediments are being deposited.
When will the water be OK enough for the county to reopen the beaches
It depends if we get more rain, if more stuff comes out of the mountains, do we get high tides or strong winds. All those factor into the water quality at those beaches.