LAUSD board receives a raise, President Trump holds a press conference with President Macron, Senate GOP leaders are expected to release a new health care proposal.
LAUSD board receives a raise, President Trump holds a press conference with President Macron, Senate GOP leaders are expected to release a new health care proposal.
LAUSD board receives a raise, President Trump holds a press conference with President Macron, Senate GOP leaders are expected to release a new health care proposal.
Senate Republicans release revised health care bill
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5:24
Senate Republicans release revised health care bill
Senate GOP leaders released the latest version of their health care bill today.
The new bill was revised in order to keep insurance costs down for consumers, while keeping two separate taxes on high-income people that they had planned to remove.
For more, Take Two spoke to KPCC health care reporter Michelle Faust.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
LAUSD school board's 174 percent pay increase, explained
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4:28
LAUSD school board's 174 percent pay increase, explained
On Monday, the members of the LAUSD school board got a raise.
A BIG one.
Right now they get about $45,000 dollars a year. But in September, that figure will shoot up 174 percent. So, in the fall, they will earn about $125,000 a year. That news didn't just unnerve people in L.A... it made news all over the country.
KPCC's education reporter Kyle Stokes stopped by Take Two, to put the pay raise into context.
To listen to the full interview, click the blue play button above.
The final frontier: Earth's uncharted ocean deep
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5:19
The final frontier: Earth's uncharted ocean deep
Here on Planet Earth, the ocean, or what's under the surface is the final frontier. We actually know more about outer space than we do about our ocean depths.
The Ocean Exploration Trust is trying to make a real dent in all that uncharted ocean territory.
Their Nautilus Expedition set sail from San Pedro last week for the Channel Islands where it will be mapping and characterizing unknown waters for the month of July.
Nicole Raineault is leading up the expedition. She spoke with Take Two's A Martinez from the Nautilus to tell us all about their mission, and what makes the waters off of Santa Barbara so fascinating to study.
Santa Barbara's ancient shorelines
There are ancient shorelines (submerged below the sea) that we're able to access with our gear which are mapping systems.... They look different than the shorelines that you and I walk on on the coastline. A lot of times they become partially, or entirely lithified – that means made into rock – so, you can see shelves and fragments of old organisms. But we can also see features like caves. In fact it's pretty incredible to see the caves above water and then map, and eventually put the remotely operated vehicles with video cameras on caves that are just below the surface of the water, see the similarities and then note the differences.
Ancient paleo-shoreline off Santa Barbara.
(
Courtesy of the Ocean Exploration Trust
)
The Channel Island's fertile waters
We've discovered new species here. We've been amazed by the amount of biodiversity. It's an upwelling area so that means there's lots of nutrients in the water that bring a lot of organisms to the area. As well as a geologically very exciting area because of the sea level change that's happened through tens of thousands of years. And also tectonics which have causes the islands and the whole area to either uplift (become higher out of the water), or subside (sink lower into the seas).
Scientists examine coral, a crab and a brittle star in the "wet lab"
(
Julye Newlin
)
The latest in oceanographic technology
We have a multi-beam eco-sounder on the exploration vessel Nautilus and that's capable of mapping ocean depths from about 50 to 6,000 meters– so most of the ocean. When we want to map that shallower bit, especially because of the mission being such a shallow water oriented mission, we brought out new technology which is is an autonomous surface vessel. This is a remote controlled boat that we set on a mission to map areas that are about from 150 meters all the way to the coastline. So, we're able to get complete coverage of the sea floor and understand with very good detail, what features there are in these area.
R.O.V. Argus, Nautilus Expedition, 2017
(
ALEX DECICCIO
)
We also have remotely operated vehicles equipped with HD videocameras, an arm so that we can take samples, and other oceanographic equipment like salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen sensors. We also have capability and will be using the mapping systems that are on the robot itself to map even higher resolution down to a centimeter level of detail of some of the features we find.
Control, Nautilus Expedition 2017
(
Julye Newlin
)
Quotes edited for clarity and brevity.
You can make groundbreaking marine discoveries right alongside the crew of the Nautilus through their interactive, live stream website, NautilusLive.org
To hear the full interview with Nicole Raineault, click the media player above.
Of history and hand-stitching: The responsibility of wearing a Charro suit
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5:00
Of history and hand-stitching: The responsibility of wearing a Charro suit
Not just anyone can wear a Charro suit. And if you live in Southern California, you've almost definitely seen one. That flashy three-piece suit with glistening embroidery and giant sombrero?
You know... the ones that mariachis wear?
2007: Mariachis wait for work on Cinco de Mayo, at Mariachi Plaza in Los Angeles.
(
Ann Johansson/AP
)
Yep. That suit.
But a mariachi musician is no charro. A charro is a horseman – a cowboy – from Mexico.
As Francisco Galvez explains, "The mariachi adopted the charro suit but with way more colors, it's not traditional because they wear way more colors. They'd wear pinks and bright reds, greens, blues."
Galvez is the owner of an online shop based here in L.A. where you can actually buy these outfits. The store is called Charro Azteca and it's pretty new, selling what Galvez says are truly authentic Mexican-made goods such as hand-stitched, tailor-made Charro suits.
When Take Two visited one of Galvez's warehouses in Paramount, he spoke to us about what the charro suit means to him — and what it means to Mexican culture.
Discovering his inner Charro
"My parents migrated from Zacatecas, Mexico, where Charreria is very popular. I was born and raised here. As a millennial growing up in the melting pot of L.A., I grew up with a lot of different cultures: African-American, white, Caucasian, Asian, Samoan ... so, growing up it was a lot of finding oneself. It was confusing.
Once I graduated from high school ... I wanted to spread how proud I was of my culture. My father actually practiced Charreria in Mexico ... so that was the one thing that I knew the best."
Francisco Galvez dons the full Charro suit.
(
KPCC/Lori Galarreta
)
With a great Charro suit, comes great responsibility
"...there's an etiquette that they have to follow. So, they wear it with pride, with a lot of history, a lot of culture and one of our main things is to keep that culture and tradition alive in the United States."
... When you wear the Charro apparel, it's about wearing it correctly. It's about making sure that you're holding the traditions from history and making sure that we keep them alive.
And the way Galvez plans to keep the history and traditions of Charreria alive? Through Charro Azteca. He wants to share the culture with everyone who's interested. Though, he does have words of caution to those who are not of Mexican descent:
"I feel that as long as you ... know that you're wearing a big responsibility, go for it. But just don't wear it in an irresponsible way.
But it's a beautiful thing to see that people are embracing Charreria and I just think it's more of a stepping stone to tie their past to their present or we can take it to the future now."
The look and history
"Charreria is Mexico's national sport ... [it] involves nine skills that were learned in cattle ranching ... developed since 200 or 300 years ago ... and those nine skills are graded into points.
While the origin of Charreria is well known, the pattern that borders the suits may come as a surprise:
"The Greek pattern that comes on the majority of our Charro suits is inspired by Greek culture. So, what you will see in Sparta or in Greece, these patterns are very squared, that's what we embraced, and kind of what we adapted to our Charro suits a couple of hundred years ago."
The signature Greek pattern featured on the greater part of the suits is also the key to deciphering its authenticity. It's intricate and labor intensive, not something that could easily be replicated or mass produced by a machine.
Close-up on intricate Greek pattern on a Charro blazer.
(
KPCC/Lori Galarreta
)
"It's pretty simple to tell what's authentic or not ... it's something that's made by old Mexican hands. There have been a ton of people that try to duplicate this, but it's very difficult for a machine to give so much of the detail, and apart from that, their heart and soul ... to make one of these trajes charros, which can take weeks to make."
Close-up on intricate Greek pattern on a Charro blazer.
(
KPCC/Lori Galarreta
)
Charro aspirations
A wall full of Charro blazers at a Charro Azteca warehouse in Paramount.
(
KPCC/Lori Galarreta
)
"I could say ... I'm a big fan of Jeff Bezos, Zappos, which is another company I look up to a lot. I want to become the Amazon of authentic Mexican products.
So, my next steps now are to go to Mexico more often and find these artisans. They don't promote themselves, they don't have marketing objectives. It's just word of mouth. So, my goal is to find them, bring the product here and deliver it to every consumer in the country, making sure that if someone wants something authentically Mexican, they can call on Charro Azteca."
Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Francisco Galvez in full Charro attire at his Charo Azteca warehouse in Paramount.
(
KPCC/Lori Galarreta
)
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Ancient paleo-shoreline off Santa Barbara.(Courtesy of the Ocean Exploration Trust)
Scientists examine coral, a crab and a brittle star in the "wet lab"(Julye Newlin)
R.O.V. Argus, Nautilus Expedition, 2017(ALEX DECICCIO)
Control, Nautilus Expedition 2017(Julye Newlin)
