The new gun research center in California, how text-to-911 has been working in CA, a chat with the conductor of the Harry Potter at the Hollywood Bowl event.
Calif. creates a new gun violence research center
California lawmakers are creating the first state-funded research center on gun violence.
Passed as part of the recent state budget, $5 million is dedicated to jump start the forthcoming center that will be based in the UC system.
It's in stark contrast to the federal government: for decades, Congress has ignored President Obama's call to budget $10 million so the Centers for Disease Control could research the issue. Without funding, research in the area is effectively banned.
"Not doing research on a health problem like firearm violence is like not doing heart disease or cancer," says Dr. Garen Wintemute at UC-Davis, who helped spearhead the campaign to create the center. "We can know the problem is there, but to do the best job at limiting the damage it does, we need to know the details."
California is in a unique position to take the lead in research because officials already collect and disseminate data on gun violence and gun commerce, work that isn't being done on a level elsewhere in the nation.
Dr. Wintemute also says that while fatal gun violence rates have not changed in 10 years across the nation, they have fallen within California by more than 20 percent.
"The organizing idea for the center might be, 'Why is that, and what are we doing right that other states are not doing?'" he says, and the findings might benefit the whole country.
Among the other things that a future center could study are risk factors for gun violence – is alcohol abuse a correlating factor? If younger men are more likely to commit violence, then what types of young men?
The future location and leadership of the center are still to be determined, but Dr. Wintemute expects that the UC system will make a decision soon.
"I have no inside information, but I wouldn't be surprised if a decision was made by this fall," he says.
A full US troop drawdown in Afghanistan won't happen during Obama's presidency
About 8,400 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future. That was the announcement from President Obama speaking from the White House Wednesday morning.
President Obama Afghanistan announcement
Obama promised in 2014 to end the war in Afghanistan by the end of his presidency, but subsequent gains by the Taliban led him to pause the drawdown in October of last year.
Now, any future decisions will fall to his successor. Kevin Baron, the executive editor for national security news site Defense One, joined Take Two to discuss.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Cities look to 911 texting after Orlando, San Bernardino shootings
During the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting last month, several victims texted family members to call 911.
Eddie Justice was one of them. He texted "call police" to his mother. One minute later his text read "I'm gonna die."
Justice was unable to text police directly because Orlando, like most U.S. cities, doesn't have text-to-911 capability.
In California, agencies in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties were the first to implement the technology in December of last year. The program went into effect just two weeks after 14 people were killed in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center.
Cyndee Freeman, Communications Manager with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, spearheaded the implementation of the county's text-to-911 program.
"If you're in a situation where it's an emergency and it's too dangerous for you to make a voice call, or you're deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired," Freeman says,"This is what it's for."
Freeman says the possibility that people might overuse or misuse the technology was a major concern, but so far it hasn't been a problem. Typically, only 1 to 2 texts arrive each day.
To avoid getting inundated with unnecessary texts, San Bernardino County's message to the public has been "Call if you can. Text if you can't."
Freeman says a voice call is preferable because information can be exchanged more quickly and because the dispatcher can glean more information from a phone call than from a text.
On a voice call "you can tell whether they're frightened, or you can hear noises in the background where you don't have that with text."
But Freeman says in active shooter or hostage situations like the ones in Orlando and San Bernardino, "where they don't want someone to hear, they're hiding in a location, it definitely would benefit in those situations."
Now Freeman is advising other agencies in California and neighboring states on how to successfully deploy their own text-to-911 programs. Thirteen agencies in L.A. County are currently in the early stages of deployment.
The Styled Side: one-piece swimsuits are number one
The bikini swimsuit turns 70 this week, debuting in 1946 to both acclaim and scandal (how revealing!). It was called the bikini as a nod to the nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll that happened just days before the garment debuted.
But the beach-side staple isn't make the splash that it used to.
Despite taking 70 percent of the marketshare for swimwear, one-piece swimsuits are steadily coming into fashion, now, says Michelle Dalton Tyree from Fashion Trends Daily.
"It's the Baywatch-style one piece that's really in, right now," she says, referring to the classic 90s TV show, "and we are actually seeing in Pamela Anderson style in red, as well as a host of other colors."
In the past year alone, one-piece swimsuit sales shot up from $23 million in sales to $38 million. Trend-spotting site Polyvore also showed that the term "one-piece" appears six times in its top 10 of swimsuit searches.
One of the top versions of the one-piece is known as the frong – as in "front thong" – because it is very high-cut up the leg.
"A wide-range of body styles can fit it," says Tyree.
For women who still want to sport a bikini, high-waisted and retro-style kinds are one of the top trends.
"Think iconic 60s movies with Annette Funicello," says Tyree.
Cut-outs and leather are also popular, too.
For men, look again to inspiration from the 90s show "Baywatch."
"Bold red shorts that are mid-thigh are what's in," says Tyree. "Think palm trees, patterns and prints."
Homeless kids, young adults find opportunity through soccer
Soccer is great for working out those calves, making friends and getting some fresh air. As it turns out, it can also help people who are struggling with homelessness.
A group called Street Soccer USA gets homeless kids and young adults off the streets and onto the field. Street Soccer USA will host this year's championship in San Francisco.
Rob Cann is a co-founder of Street Soccer USA. He joined Take Two to tell more about the competition, and how soccer can lead to better things for the homeless.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
TSA's proposed new security system - will it make travel faster?
This week the TSA and American Airlines announced that they would attempt to create a new system in several major airports that will be designed to not only make the screening time faster - but also enhance security.
The program, which will be initiated in airports in Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles, will incorporate new technology and screening modifications ... but will it work?
We talk about it with Hugo Martin, he writes about travel and tourism for the LA Times.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Bringing the magic to the Hollywood Bowl
Southern California is home to plenty of concerts and plenty of film events and every now and then live music and movies come together at the Hollywood Bowl. That's what's happening tonight.
The bowl will screen the film "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" while the Los Angeles Philharmonic plays every single note from John William's original score.
Justin Freer, who will conduct the orchestra, spoke with Alex Cohen about the idea of marrying live music and movies, how difficult it is to perform film scores live and bringing Harry's magic to the Bowl.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.