Deadly Arizona fire claims lives of 19 firefighters. How can fire-prone areas fight wildfires while also ensuring the safety of firefighters?; Rural New Mexico community first to pass county-wide fracking ban; Gov. Brown OKs state's first off-reservation casino deal; California suburbs growing rapidly due to rising Latino population; Why have so many NFL players been arrested this summer? and much more.
Deadly Arizona fire claims lives of 19 firefighters
Sad news out of Arizona today, where the Yarnell Hill fire has claimed the lives of 19 firefighters. The fire broke out northwest of Phoenix on Friday where authorities believe the area was struck by lightning.
It has burned over 6,000 acres, destroyed an estimated 200 structures and it is still zero percent contained.
Keeping Firemen Safe
Sunday the deadliest day for firefighters since 9/11, and the deadliest wildland fire since a 1933 fire in Griffith Park. How can fire prone regions best prepare for wildland fires while also ensuring the safety of firefighters?
For more on the politics behind forest management, we're joined by former wildland firefighter and journalist Michael Kodas.
How green are the batteries in electric cars?
Gas prices have gone up a bit in California, but don't blame supply and demand, or a refinery shutdown. A 3.5 cent tax hike went into effect today.
The statewide average for a gallon of regular is now at just over four bucks. The ever-increasing number of Californians who are embracing battery electric vehicles can ignore that news, but they might want to think a little harder about those batteries.
They have a finite lifespan, so what will happen to them when they need to be replaced? Are they toxic? Can they be recycled, or are we on the verge of creating an entire new class of hazardous waste?
Here with answers, Mike Millikin, editor of the online publication Green Car Congress.
California suburbs growing rapidly due to rising Latino population
Today on the steps of the state Capitol, Latino activists will gather to mark a historic moment in California. State population experts estimate that around this day, the number of Latinos in California will match that of non-Hispanic whites. Much of that growth is from immigration.
But in what communities is that boom happening?
You might want to look toward the burbs. Out of the top 10 fastest growing cities in the country, three of them are in California. None of them are major urban centers like Los Angeles or San Francisco. In fact, they're pretty suburban: Chula Vista, Irvine, and Bakersfield.
Here to explain is Joel Kotkin, an urban futures fellow at Chapman University and author of the Forbes piece, "America's Fastest-Growing Cities Since the Recession."
The US Postal Service's zip code system turns 50
Pity the poor U.S. Postal Service, which is struggling to survive in the internet age. Last year the USPS posted a $16 billion deficit, and the agency hoped cutting Saturday delivery might help it get back in the black, but Congress put the kibosh on that idea.
With that in mind, you might forgive the post office if they're not celebrating a pretty important anniversary today. KPCC's Steve Proffitt reports.
If you were near a magazine, a radio or TV in the summer of 1963, you couldn't avoid a full-on promotional blitz by the U.S. Postal Service. They had an idea, and promised it would speed up delivery and save the post pffice from drowning under ever-increasing volumes of mail.
Americans were told that by adding a five digit number to addresses, their mail delivery would be faster and more efficient, but a lot of people weren't buying it. There had already been problems with the introduction of area codes for phone calls.
Now residents had to remember a five-digit number as part of not only their address, but the address of everybody they knew? It seemed like a lot of extra work, and people weren't excited about it.
Anna Clark is a writer from Detroit who became fascinated with zip codes and started writing about their history and use. She says the post office knew it would be a challenge to sell the idea, so they created a cartoon character, Mr. Zip, and sponsored a variety of creative, albeit odd promotional events.
"There were Mrs. Zip beauty pageants," says Clark, "They had parades and a national Zip Code Week. This went on for years."
The post office even produced a full on televised variety show. It starred a fresh-faced vocal group called the Swingin' Six. The Swingin' Six attempted to lay out all the reasons the post office needed zip codes and convince Americans to embrace the new idea:
Meanwhile, the post office was also focusing on business. After all, commercial mailers made up about 80 percent of mail volume at the time. They were wary of a new system that might cost them money.
The message the post office produced was that adding those five numbers would end up making businesses money, not costing them.
Clark agreed with the validity of this claim, saying that, "[Businesses] getting mail to their potential customers in a very timely way in a very specific location was a huge benefit."
In fact, companies quickly realized they could use zip codes as a way of segmenting their customers, beginning a process that has been highly refined over the past 50 years.
How Your Zip Code Defines You
That creative use included marketing research and the targeting of specific zip codes. Sometimes that meant better deals for customers, sometimes not. Anna Clark falls into the 'sometimes not' category.
"My car insurance rates are really high, and it's definitely impacted by what my zip code is," said Clark.
Those five numbers, originally designed to simply speed mail delivery have morphed into something much more integral in our lives.
Realtors talk about homes in attractive zip codes: Beverly Hills 90210. Census data is broken down by zip. Retailers, offline and on, want to associate you with one of the more than 40 thousand zip codes in use.
There's good reason for that. An area code locates you within millions of people. The name of a town might put you in a group of a couple of hundred thousand, but only about 7,000 neighbors share your zip code. For marketers, that's a nice, tight group to target.
Today, after 50 years, there are still conspiracy buffs who see the codes, along with social security numbers, as part of some spooky new world order. Other more moderate critics worry they can be used to discriminate because they can identify groups by ethnicity and income. Anna Clark says she's a fan of the post office, and of zip codes in general, but has some reservations.
"Zip codes serve a purpose," she said. "They help connect us. What I have a problem with is when zip codes are used to separate us in a way that exacerbates inequalities that already are a really big problem in our country."
On this 50th anniversary, spend a moment to ponder the zip code, and maybe be glad that the experiment to expand from five to nine numbers, which the post office introduced in the early 80s, only took hold for business mailers. 90211, no problem. 90211-1809. Just too much, thank you.
On The Lot: Minions craze, Johnny Depp as Tonto and much more
Now its time for our regular Monday discussion of the entertainment biz, On the Lot with LA Times reporter Rebecca Keegan.
Rural New Mexico community first to pass county-wide fracking ban
Mora County, New Mexico told the oil and gas industry "no thanks" this spring when commissioners passed the nation's first county-wide ban on fracking. Due to water safety concerns, much of the rural ranching community supports the ordinance, but some are worried the county is losing a chance to boost its struggling economy.
Carrie Jung from the Fronteras Desk reports.
Tribune Co. expands empire with purchase of 19 local TV stations
Big news in the media world today from the Tribune Company.
The media behemoth which owns dozens of TV stations and newspapers across the country, including the Los Angeles Times is about to get even bigger. This morning, the company announced a massive $2.7 billion dollar purchase of 19 local TV stations.
The move, if it goes through, would make Tribune the largest owner of local affiliates in the nation. It's the latest in a series of moves by other large media companies buying up smaller TV affiliates.
For more we're joined by Brian Stelter, media reporter for the New York Times
A recap of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's inauguration
Los Angeles has a new mayor. Yesterday, Eric Garcetti took the oath of office outside City Hall.
He was sworn in by 13-year-old Kenia Castillo, an eighth grader from Highland Park who met Garcetti a few years ago at a rally for janitors. Castillo's mother is a janitor.
KPCC political reporter Frank Stoltze joins the show with a recap of the day's events.
Herb Wesson seeks second term as powerful president of LA City Council
Eric Garcetti is on his first day as the mayor of Los Angeles, but at LA City Hall, there's another man whose power rivals that of the mayor: Herb Wesson. On Tuesday, he will be up for re-election as city council president. KPCC's Alice Walton reports.
Gov. Brown OKs state's first off-reservation casino deal
For years now, California Indian tribes have been able to legally operate casinos, provided that those casinos are located on reservation land. But that could soon change.
Under a bill approved by the state Senate in a 22-11 vote last week, the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians will be allowed to build a casino on land that is off the reservation.
For more on this, we're joined now by Greg Lucas, a contributing editor to Capitol Weekly.
ALRB provides unique way to resolve disputes between growers and farmworkers
It's no secret that farm workers do some of the hardest jobs in California, sweltering under the summer sun while picking grapes or harvesting lettuce. But one secret about life in the fields is the problem of sexual harassment and assault.
A patchwork of state and federal agencies handles these kinds of cases, but California is the only state that has its own special court for resolving labor disputes between farmworkers and growers. That court will be considering one of its first complaints related to sexual harassment this summer.
The California Report's Central Valley Bureau Chief Sasha Khokha has our story.
RELATED: See part 1 of Sasha Khoka's story on migrant sexual assault
Elvia Hernandez never expected to come home from work covered in dirt from a sweet potato field. She owned her own clothing business back in Mexico. But as an undocumented immigrant in rural California, farm work seemed like her only choice. What she didn’t expect was having to put up with lewd behavior from her bosses.
“The harassment started on the very first day,” she recalls in Spanish, during an interview at her Modesto home. “One of them started looking at me, blowing kisses, saying that he liked me, that he loved me. I thought, ‘Is this guy for real?’ ”
Hernandez says when she worked at Sandhu Brothers Poultry and Farming company near Modesto in 2011 and 2012, she and other workers were repeatedly sexually harassed by several supervisors:
“When I turned around to get my gloves and my things, (one of them) leaned in to kiss me. I felt his tongue lick my cheek. It was disgusting. I said to him, ‘What are you doing? That’s gross!’ He said, ‘You’re so pretty. I like the color of your skin.’ ”
She says the owner’s brother was responsible for the most abusive behavior during the sweet potato harvest:
“He would masturbate at work,” she says, grimacing. “He’d be going along in the tractor, and he didn’t care who saw it. Everyone would watch this happening. And we workers would say, ‘That’s gross,’ and he would say, ‘I’ve got some for you, too.’ ”
Hernandez said she repeatedly complained to management about sexual harassment and other problems -- like filthy bathrooms and late payment of wages. In May of last year, she was fired.
“I said, ‘My God. This is incredible. I’m not in Mexico though, right? There are laws here, there is a way to get help,’ ” she recalls.
She called the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, a small state agency founded in 1975 to resolve labor disputes between farmworkers and growers. They sent out a team to interview her.
“There is a value to human dignity, in the same way that there is a value to your crops,” says ALRB general counsel Silvia Torres-Guillén. She’s the first Latina to head the agency. She is new to the job, and says she sees its mission as about more than mediating union disputes.
“Sexual harassment and sexual discrimination cases are definitely just as important as good wages, just as important as it is to have clean water or bathrooms,” she adds.
In May, Torres-Guillén filed her first unfair labor practice complaint relating to sexual harassment, against Elvia Hernandez’s former employer, the Sandhu Brothers farm. The ALRB can’t award damages to farmworkers or press criminal charges. But it can order back wages for workers like Hernandez if they were fired after complaining on behalf of fellow co-workers.
Jack Sodhi, the attorney for the Sandhu Brothers, disputes the allegations. He says they’re “so far-fetched it’s frankly unbelievable.” Farmworkers wouldn’t have stayed on the job at his clients’ farm, he says, if the conditions were so outrageous.
“There may be issues where there’s sexual harassment of farm employees, but it’s not taking place here and it’s unfortunate that the ALRB is focused on my clients, who have done nothing wrong,” says Sodhi.
He says the tiny Sandhu Brothers farm recently implemented sexual harassment training, something it chose to do voluntarily.
If it were a larger company, with 50 or more employees, California law would require training of all supervisors about sexual harassment for two hours every two years.
On a recent morning, about 30 farmers and crew supervisors, many in checked shirts and dusty cowboy boots, listen attentively at one of those trainings in a downtown Fresno hotel.
“This whole subject is about people with power using their power inappropriately to those that report to them,” explains trainer Amy Wolfe, as she confidently paces in front of the PowerPoint slide she has put up on the screen. She is president of Ag Safe, a group that conducts monthly trainings on farm safety.
One of the participants here is farm labor consultant James Randles. He’s former vice president of Hall Ag Enterprises, considered the largest farm employer in California, running crews in 30 counties. He says sexual harassment is a real problem in the industry.
“It’s enormous. It’s enormous,” says Randles, pausing in the hotel lobby after the training. “Recently I found out that there’s a lot of females that are having babies. And if you follow the trail, it’ll end up to a lot of the supervisors of the crews that they work for. I know this is not good for our industry, but it is rampant.”
Wolfe says that kind of acknowledgement signals a real shift. “Unfortunately, there is still very much a good ol’ boy attitude, but I definitely see improvements. I see more farmers today asking the question, where I think 15 or 20 years ago that wasn’t taking place,” she says.
The ALRB’s Silvia Torres-Guillén says Ag Safe’s trainings make a serious effort to address the problem. But she’s skeptical about trainings that employers conduct on their own. So, in the Hernandez case, she’s asking an ALRB judge to order Sandhu supervisors to come to her office for 20 hours of sexual harassment training and then be tested on what they’ve learned.
“So, it’s not about the piece of paper saying, ‘Yes, I have participated in sexual harassment training,’ which may have consisted of five minutes out in the field,” says Torres-Guillén, “but a really thought-out plan where you are role-playing, where you are presenting them with hypotheticals, and asking them, ‘How would you respond?’ “
The ALRB also has the unique ability to meet with workers in the fields, without supervisors present, and explain why the bosses’ behavior violated their rights. The judge will consider that option in the Sandhu Brothers case, and that’s what Elvia Hernandez wants to see.
“In all my heart, I want to see the day when my co-workers sit down and learn about their rights under labor law,” she says. “I want them to learn that they shouldn’t be scared, whether or not they have documents, they can complain.”
Elvia Hernandez’s case is set to be heard before an ALRB administrative law judge in August.
Our series on farmworker sexual harassment was reported in collaboration with the Center for Investigative Reporting and the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program. It’s part of a larger project with Frontline and Univision.
Step therapy: A delicate balance between patient care and health care costs (POLL)
A new state assembly bill is looking to expedite the process of step therapy. It's one way insurance companies regulate the the prescription medications that they cover. Step therapy helps to control expenses, but health providers also have to keep patient health in mind.
KPCC's José Martinez has more on that delicate balance.
Why have so many NFL players been arrested this summer?
The summer is supposed to be a restful time for NFL players who wear out their bodies on the gridiron for much of the year, but off-seasons are seldom quiet.
In fact, since the Super Bowl in February, 31 NFL players have been arrested for a plethora of reasons.
Seattle Seahawks' back-up quarterback Josh Portis and free agent tight end Evan Rodriguez were both arrested in May for DUI. Joe Lefeged of the Indianapolis Colts was arrested Saturday and charged with carrying an unlicensed pistol. Free agent Titus Young was arrested three times in one week in May for various run-ins with police.
However, this year's most notable NFL arrest so far is that of the New England Patriots' TE Aaron Hernandez, who was arrested June 26th and charged with the alleged first-degree murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
But even with the numerous arrests this off-season, this year is far from unusual for the NFL. Ever since the trial of OJ Simpson in 1994, football players have been stigmatized as troublemakers.
Mitch Abrams does not agree with this stigma. As a sports psychologist and chair of the Anger and Violence in Sport committee of the Association for Applied Sports Psychology, he spends a lot of time looking at what makes professional athletes who they are.
He thinks the perceived violent nature of NFL players has been overblown.
"I think that the issue is that when athletes transgress it's big news," said Abrams, "When there's an increase in frequency in a concentrated period, it's even louder. But statistically, NFL players, and athletes in general, are not more likely to be involved in crime than non-athletes."
Abrams has a point: athletes are always in the public spotlight. They are seen everywhere from Subway commercials to fashion magazines.
But if NFL players are so high profile, shouldn't they make a greater effort to conduct themselves accordingly? Abrams says that the problem lies not with their attitude, but their conditioning.
"If you have a football player who is reenforced for a certain type of aggression on the football field, and he does the exact same thing in the parking lot 100 yards away, he'd be arrested," said Abrams, "For some athletes, it's difficult to differentiate what behavior is appropriate in what places."
So what can the league do if the aggressive nature of football itself is causing these athletes to act out?
Abrams has a couple suggestions. He thinks teams would benefit from vetting potential players before signing them.
By examining factors like a player's violet tendencies, gang affiliation and emotional state, the NFL could cut its arrest rate.
Additionally, Abrams thinks the NFL could help its players by placing more value on sports psychologists, saying that, "Sports psychologists are not a standard part of every NFL team. They are only starting to permeate being a standard part of sports medicine teams."
With that in mind, maybe the solution to the problem is prevention, not prosecution.
The psychology of workout music
You've seen people going for a run or in the gym with ear-buds, blasting music to go along with their workout. For many, the music is as important as any piece of equipment.
We talk about the psychology of workout music with Tom Stafford, a lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Sheffield in the UK.
Meet the 'crullant,' LA's take on NY's popular cronut pastry (photos)
If you have friends in New York, you'll know that the city has been going nuts for cronuts, the croissant-doughnut hybrids that debuted last May at the Dominique Ansel bakery in Soho.
They're so popular that people are reportedly waiting 2 hours to get their hands on them every day. There's even a black market around cronuts: you can pay one service $70 to wait in line for you, and another will deliver a single cronut right to your door for $100.
That's a doughnut with a "hole" lot of hype, which, of course, L.A. wants in on. Now, there's a bakery here that's offering its own take on the trademarked "cronut," called a "crullant."
Waffle tacos? Pastrami burritos? Later this week, we'll be talking about more hybrid foods right here in Los Angeles. What unusual hybrids have you seen on menus? And how'd they taste? Tweet us
Sharlena Fong is the owner of Semisweet Bakery in downtown L.A., and she created the recipe for a crullant from scratch.
"I've never actually had the cronut, but I heard about the cronut at Dominique Ansel's in New York and at first I was like, oh, that looks amazing," said Fong. "I didn't really think about making my own for quite some time until the LA Times article that said, hey, LA pastry chefs, come on make a cronut! I thought, I have all the equipment here and I have all the ingredients. Why not start trying?"
After testing about five different recipes, the perfected version first went on sale last Saturday at 8 a.m. First in line was Robbie Brody and his 8-year-old daughter Eve.
"We've been following the cronut story in New York," says Brody. "So when we found out that there were going to be crullants here in LA, we wanted to be among the first. We didn't know we'd get to be the first."
Eve says there's no way she'll be disappointed by the crullants. "I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen because we're the first ones here," she said.
They were lucky because Semisweet Bakery can only make 48 crullants at a time. By 8:17 a.m. the bakery was all sold out.
It was bad news for Sunny DeJesus, she was the next person in line at the time they were gone.
"I thought I came early enough to get them, but unfortunately it looks like I have to wait," said DeJesus. But because she drove in from the San Fernando valley, she prepaid for two crullants and decided to wait an hour for them to bake.
So do they live up to the hype?
Robbie Brody said, "Oh, they're very flaky. They're very sticky, and yet the top is like you're eating cotton candy." His daughter Eve had a more simple review: "They're good."
Semisweet Bakery is at 105 E 6th St in downtown, and crullants sell for $3.95 each.
Have you tried a crullant? A cronut? Let us know what you think in the comments below.