Today on the show, new research shows we've been using up groundwater reserves in the Colorado River basin at an alarming rate. Then, water districts around the state are floating the idea of raising property taxes to fund water tunnel infrastructure. Plus, migrants from Central America are being scammed by con artists who say that they can only get their kids back if they pay cash, director Anton Corbijn on directing Phillip Seymour Hoffman, 'Divergent' author on her runaway hit and much more.
Groundwater loss in Colorado River basin threatens water security in west
New research by NASA and UC Irvine shows that groundwater in the Colorado River basin is being depleted at an alarming rate.
The Colorado River basin is one of the most important sources of water for the west, providing irrigation to four million acres of farmland and drinking water for 40 million people in seven states and Mexico.
Using satellite imaging from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, scientists were able to measure the volume of water in the basin. They found that the basin has lost 53 million acre feet of water since 2004, almost double the amount of water in the country's largest reservoir, Lake Mead in Nevada.
Almost 75 percent of the water lost was groundwater, which could compound the dwindling supply of water in the region due to 14 years of prolongued drought.
Senior author of the study Jay Famiglietti, a hydrologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and UC Irvine, joined the show to talk about the implications of this report on the region's water security.
Water woes may lead to property tax hikes without voter permission
The continuing water woes in California have officials looking for ways to improve the state's water infrastructure.
One idea that's been on the table for years is a pair of underground tunnels to carry water under the delicate Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But with a $25 billion price tag, it's bound to be a hard sell for California voters.
So water districts around the state are floating the idea of raising property taxes to fund the project without a public vote. To tell us more, Paul Rogers of KQED Science and the San Jose Mercury News joins Take Two.
Families of child immigrants being scammed for money
Child immigrants have been at the center of the immigration debate lately.
Kids from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, who've crossed the border illegally have been scooped up and are being held by the government in places like San Antonio, Texas. But once they're caught, there are problems that are starting to arise for their families as well. They're being scammed for money by con artists who say that they can only get their kids back if they pay cash.
The FBI's trying to figure out how the scammers came across the information for the kids, and plenty of families are likely afraid to come forward after they've been scammed because of their questionable legal status.
From a New York Times article by
:
One Miami housekeeper who recently paid a smuggler to bring her 16-year-old daughter from Honduras said that she had been communicating with a woman claiming to be a social worker at a shelter in Texas where her daughter was being held. The woman told her she had to pay $2,000 for her daughter’s one-way ticket from Texas.
“I said to her, ‘Why so much? How much is the ticket?’ ” said the housekeeper, Eva, who asked that her last name not be published because she is in the country illegally. “I started getting suspicious when she could not tell me how much the ticket was. I told her, ‘How do you not know if you are the one purchasing it?’ ”
The woman then lowered the price to $1,500 and passed the phone to a second person, who took down Eva’s debit card information. When Eva’s bank statement came, she said she saw three separate withdrawals.
Robles has been reporting on this issue and she joins A Martinez to discuss.
Texas border communities question Gov. Rick Perry's plan to send 1,000 troops
Up to 1,000 National Guard troops could arrive to the border in Texas as early as next month. That's according to a plan from Governor Rick Perry announced earlier this week.
"There can be no national security without border security, and Texans have paid too high a price for the federal government's failure to secure our border," Gov. Perry said Monday.
Perry said the deployment would multiply efforts already ongoing under the so-called Operation Strong Safety in order "to combat the cartel activity, human traffickers and individual criminals."
But local law enforcement and communities along the border are raising concerns about the plan.
“The National Guard — they’re trained in warfare; they’re not trained in law enforcement,” Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio told the Dallas Morning News. “I need to find out what their actual role is going to be, but I think the money would be better spent giving local law enforcement more funds.”
Others are questioning the timing of the plan, estimated to cost taxpayers about $12 million a month.
"The number of children is starting to trail off, reduced almost by half from last month," Melissa del Bosque, reporter at the Texas Observer, who writes La Línea blog, told Take Two.
Many of those who are crossing the border aren't trying to evade arrest but are turning themselves into authorities, said del Bosque, so it's not clear what role the National Guard could play.
The fastest rising group of migrants are children under the age of 12, according to a Pew Research study out this week.
Survey: Californians support efforts to combat global warming, but not the price tag
A strong majority of Californians support the state's efforts to combat global warming — unless those efforts lead to higher gas and energy prices. The Public Policy Institute of California recently polled more than 1,700 residents for its annual survey on environmental issues.
KPCC'S Molly Peterson caught up with some of the people polled to take a look behind the numbers.
The 10 most important stories to know before San Diego Comic-Con 2014
The 2014 edition of San Diego Comic-Con, the mecca for hundreds of thousands of pop culture fans every year, starts Wednesday night and runs through Sunday. Here's a look at this year's highlights.
DC vs. Marvel: Film
Marvel has proven itself to be a dominant force in film, with their in-house studio producing the biggest film of all time with "The Avengers" — but now they're moving into dicier territory. Sure, they'll have the Avengers sequel "Age of Ultron" out next year, which seems like a safe bet, but they've also got "Guardians of the Galaxy" hitting in August featuring characters fans have a lot less familiarity with.
Marvel also let it be known that they have movies set for 2017-2019, so announcements about those are likely forthcoming at this year's Comic-Con. Meanwhile, DC is jumping into the water of a multi-movie continuity, using "Man of Steel" sequel "Batman v Superman" as a prequel for a Justice League movie. Fans have been buzzing that they may follow in Marvel's footsteps when they brought the whole Avengers cast on stage and bring out the Justice League cast, including team members yet to be announced.
DC vs. Marvel: Television
DC seems to have a bit of an advantage in television, with sustained success in live-action TV for years while Marvel's big splash, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," initially proved less successful with fans. It has a significantly larger audience, but faces higher expectations being on a larger network.
This fall, DC is spreading out with Batman TV series "Gotham" on Fox, horror show "Constantine" on NBC and another CW show, "The Flash," joining "Arrow." Marvel's adding "Agent Carter" midseason, a period piece, and is beating DC to another venue: Online. They're doing a series of Netflix shows, starting with "Daredevil," with hopes that they can achieve the same kind of cult fandom that "Arrow" and its social media-friendly star Stephen Amell has achieved.
It's unlikely that all these shows (plus DC show "iZombie" at midseason) will stick, so the studios will be trying to get buzz building at Comic-Con to keep these shows on the air. Several of these shows will be making their public debuts at Comic-Con, so watch Twitter for some instant reactions to this fall's pilots.
Diversity in comics
Marvel made a multimedia splash recently, announcing a new female Thor and an African-American Captain America on "The View" and "The Colbert Report." Other than giving Comic-Con cosplayers some new costumes they needed to put together on a quick turnaround, it's an effort by Marvel to reach new audiences.
It's an ongoing struggle for the comic book industry, which has been in a steady decline — with the exception of similar media attention-grabbing events — for many years, with the movies not proving the panacea some in comics hoped, as they haven't led to increased sales. Only one book has consistently been selling above 100,000 copies in recent sales figures — Batman — and it's long been said that if it weren't for the movies, TV shows and other merchandise, Marvel corporate parent Disney and DC corporate parent Time Warner would strongly consider shuttering these divisions.
Comic-Con is a place that's embraced diversity, with gender-swapping cosplayers and numerous panels looking at ways to bring comics to new audiences. Comic-Con's female attendance is up, so that's one major opportunity for the comic book industry, and creators will continue trying to pitch their titles to female fans, as well as other minorities.
The continuing golden age of television
While comic books — or at least comic book characters — are still a major part of Comic-Con, the top two panels at the convention come from the TV world. Those are "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead."
Comic-Con is the place where their creators get to hold court to adoring masses, with George R.R. Martin and Robert Kirkman acting as pop culture raconteurs while fans listen intently for any morsels of news that come dripping from their lips.
Even shows that don't seem like natural fits for the geek audience try to make an impact because they know how influential the convention can be, with everything from thrillers like "24", "The Blacklist" and "Hannibal" to genre shows like "Sleepy Hollow" and "Teen Wolf" show fans footage and make their case for why everyone should care.
75 years of the Caped Crusader
Batman is everywhere on this schedule, with panels with creators, screenings of a new animated film, the stars of the '60s Batman TV show promoting the show coming to home video and the debut of Bats' new origin TV show, "Gotham."
Batman first appeared in 1939, and this marks his 75th anniversary. DC Comics is celebrating with Batman Day on the Wednesday of Comic-Con, along with numerous panels looking back while also trying to look forward to how to keep the character vital for another 75 years. The Christopher Nolan movies were popular, but dark, and not exactly a way to introduce kids to Batman — the new movie Batman played by Ben Affleck looks similarly brooding, so getting that next generation to latch on remains a task ahead of DC Comics.
Image Comics goes big
While superheroes don't have the same comic book panache as they once did, a comic company that often goes beyond capes is on the way up — Image Comics. The Walking Dead has become a hit TV show, their comic Saga has become a go-to for fans looking to turn non-comics fan on to comic books and they've continued to expand into other areas.
The company doesn't have the same sort of shared universe as DC and Marvel, but all their titles are creator-owned, meaning those creators have the freedom to try some new things that they can't at DC or Marvel — and it looks to be meeting with a lot of success.
They're doing their Image Expo event for press and some fans on the Wednesday of Comic-Con, which has a history of breaking big news stories with major creators doing books for the company. They'll also have a presence throughout the convention as they try to nip at the more traditional publishers' heels.
It may be Image's greatest success since they made an initial splash in the '90s, and they're doing it with fewer superheroes this time.
Other points of interest
- Comic-Con is a place for comics and the associated characters, as well as other forms of pop culture, but it's also a home for geeks, so one that may be a more natural fit than it seems at first is NASA's Next Giant Leap. The panel will include Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin talking with other panelists about NASA's future plans, including their efforts to get a man to Mars.
- There were some galactic, time-traveling snubs — despite launching a new season in August, no "Doctor Who" panel is coming to this year's Comic-Con. Same for "Sherlock," leaving Benedict Cumberbatch's legions of fans wanting. But bigger than that, no Disney panel, which means no "Star Wars: Episode VII" — the infamously secretive J.J. Abrams is keeping that one mostly under wraps for a bit longer.
- It's been true for a few years now, but more than ever, you don't need a Comic-Con ticket to enjoy the weekend in San Diego thanks to all of the offsite events. Nerd HQ, run by former "Chuck" star Zachary Levi, is taking over Petco Park and holding their own panels, with proceeds going to charity — though you have to pay for each one. Chris Hardwick's Nerdist.com is holding giant laser tag matches, "Gotham" has a zip line, "Sleepy Hollow" is putting fans into a virtual reality Oculus Rift simulation and there are dozens and dozens more events happening for fans to wet their geek whistles.
- A lot of fans may be looking to enjoy those offsite events thanks to how difficult it can be to get into the big panels onsite. While 125,000 fans attend each year, the biggest room at the convention, Hall H, only holds 6,500 people — meaning a lot of sad "Game of Thrones" and Marvel movie fans. Comic-Con is taking steps to try to ease at least a small amount of the pressure by instituting a wristband system for Hall H and showing replays of the biggest panels in near real-time — minus any footage that's being shown — in a playback room.
Director Anton Corbijn on Phillip Seymour Hoffman and 'A Most Wanted Man'
The new film "A Most Wanted Man" based on a John LeCarre novel of the same name, tells the story of a small group of German intelligence operatives based in Hamburg, led by a man named Gunther Bachmann, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
It was Hoffman's last role before his death, and by all accounts it showcased the acting chops that fans and critics appreciated.
The film's director, Anton Corbijn, joins Take Two to talk about the film, working with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and more.
State Of Affairs: Obama in LA, Alarcon verdict and more
It's time now for State of Affairs, our weekly look at California politics with Southern California Public Radio political reporters Frank Stoltze and Alice Walton.
We start with President Obama, who is in Los Angeles raising money. Later today, he travels to L.A. Trade Tech College south of downtown. Why Trade Tech and what is he expected to talk about?
We should note this is the president 19th trip to Southern California — his third in the last three months. As long as we are "doing the numbers," Obama's held 398 fundraisers since taking office, according to CBS News. In contrast, his predecessor President Bush had conducted 218. Why so many fundraisers?
While we are talking about fundraising, we should talk about the battle over the Citizens United court ruling. The California legislature placed on the November ballot a measure supporting a constitutional convention designed to overturn citizens united. Now there's backlash by a group trying to keep it off the ballot.
We can't really talk about presidential politics these days without talking about Hillary Clinton, who's also in California this week. The possible 2016 candidate was on KPCC this week sidestepping questions about presidential ambitions and jabbing back at possible Republican presidential hopeful Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who suggested she was a "20th Century candidate."
Clinton has her allies working hard on her behalf in California. What's the extent of the Hillary machine in California?
A longtime figure on L.A.'s political scene was convicted yesterday of living outside the city council district he was supposed to be representing. A jury convicted former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon on four counts. Why is this significant?
There is a battle brewing between Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents nearly ten thousand rank and file cops. The union rejected a contract offer, and now cops are suing for overtime. What's the latest?
Mayor Garcetti takes over as chair of the powerful Metropolitan Transportation Board today. He's chairing his first meeting as we speak. What can we expect out of Garcetti?
USC offers season ticket holders exclusive 'experiences' for $1,500
Have you always dreamt of running through the L.A. Coliseum tunnel onto the field in front of 70,000-plus roaring USC football fans?
It used to be that the only way you could make that dream come true was to play or coach for the team. But now you can do it for just $1,500 as part of a new menu of "experiences" USC is offering season ticket holders.
Southern California Public Radio's Ben Bergman joins the show to explain.
Internet companies want more influence in California legislature
Internet companies now make up a significant portion of the global economy. Capital Public Radio's Katie Orr says they're also the focus of an increasing amount of legislation and they want a voice in how those bills are written.
Old and new ways of living clashed at the California Capitol this legislative session.
Drivers from the Internet based ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft flooded a committee hearing to protest proposed regulations for their industry. Traditional taxi drivers gathered to support the tougher rules. Senator Alex Padilla noted the discussion was one that wouldn't have happened a few years ago.
"The wonderful challenge that we have on complex issues like this is, in large part, driven by technology and innovation and things that 50 years ago people wouldn't have imagined, forcing important public policy questions," said Padilla.
Those policy questions are being debated more frequently and Robert Callahan wants to have a role in answering them. Callahan is the Executive Director of the California branch of the Internet Association. That's a relatively new lobbying group that represents many large Internet companies.
"Google, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Twitter, Yahoo, Yelp, Uber and Lyft," said Callahan.
The Association lobbies on issues at the federal level in Washington, DC and just opened a California office, its only state branch. Callahan says there's plenty to work on.
"Net neutrality is big at the federal level right now. We're heavily engaged in that. There's patent reform issues," said Callahan. "But also just issues that you would never have thought about like, what are the decedent rights to a social media account after the account holder passes away?"
Callahan says Internet companies are in their adolescence compared to other businesses. But he says they are growing up fast.
"They are becoming more established in Capitol domes around the country, but that's for a good reason, because policy makers are starting to look at them and consider what if any regulations should apply and we need to have a voice there," said Callahan.
Timothy Karr is with Free Press, a non-partisan group that works for with it calls a "free and open Internet."
"You know, in general, I don't think corporate lobbyists are serving the interest of consumer," said Karr. "Corporate lobbyists are there to serve the bottom line of the companies that hire them, often times that means promoting policies at the expense of consumers."
Karr says Internet companies are lagging behind more traditional industries that have a long history of lobbying and making campaign contributions. But he says they're working to catch-up and there are plenty of opportunities.
"At the state level, at the federal level and even at the city level there are a lot of issues and policy related to Internet access, related to free speech on the Internet, related to privacy on the Internet," said Karr. "It has become one of the defining policy issues of our time."
It's an area that will likely continue to be hotly debated as the online world increasingly crosses over to everyday life.
Celebrating tequila day and the spirit's new sophisticated image
July 24 is National Tequila Day, and the Mexican spirit is more popular than ever. Tequila production has tripled over the last decade to meet growing global demand and the image of tequila has been revamped from the rotgut of choice for college students, to a sophisticated sipping spirit with celebrity brands from George Clooney and Justin Timberlake.
Tequila has crossed the border many times in history, from World War II and the 1968 Olympics, to the advent of the ultra-premium tequila starting in the 1980s.
Food blogger Bill Esparza credits John Paul DeJoria and the Patron brand for creating a thirst for sippable tequila. These days, said Esparza, the Patron distillery has become so high volume, it may lack the quality control that turned them into top shelf property.
This August Patron is introducing an even more high end line, called Patron Roca. It hearkens back to the traditional methods of crushing the agave with a stone wheel.
However, there are plenty of strong tequila brands that have been creating traditional-style tequila and have gained a presence in the American market. Esparza's favorites include 7 Leguas, Volcan de mi Tierra and Tapatio brand tequilas.
2 California writers land on Man Booker Prize longlist
The Man Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.
Each year it's awarded to the writer of an original novel written in the English language. For more than four decades, only writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth were eligible for the prize. Until now.
This year, four Americans have made it on to the Man Booker longlist, including two writers with a California connection. For more we're joined by David Kipen, he's the founder of Libros Schmibros Lending Library and Bookshop in Boyle Heights.
25-year-old bestselling author Veronica Roth on her hit 'Divergent' trilogy
Writer Veronica Roth is taking the world by storm. Her new book "Four" sold more than 600,000 copies in its first week.
Her previous works, known as the "Divergent Trilogy," are also New York Times best sellers. The first book has already been made into a major feature film and the second comes out in film form next year. Not bad for a 25-year-old.
Veronica Roth recently joined Take Two to talk more about what it was like to land a book deal at such a young age, what it was like to see her books turn into movies and more.
Interview Highlights:
What sort of books did you read when you were a young adult?
"I think they were very much the same kinds of books that I'm now writing. So I was always interested in genre fictions so sci-fi fantasy and everything under the speculative fiction umbrella and I didn't read up in reading level despite being told to, I guess, by a lot of teachers because the plots didn't interest me as much so I did read a couple of adult sci-fi book when I was that age, but mostly I stuck to what we would now call YA, even though that distinction wasn't as clear when I was younger."
When and how did this world of the Divergent Universe come to you?
"It was a little gradual, but I do remember a few moments where it came together and the first one was a couple of years before I wrote the rough draft. I was taking a Psych 101, basically, and we were learning about exposure therapy, which is a method of treating anxiety and phobia in which someone is repeatedly exposed to the stimulus that provokes their fear response in a safe environment until their brain habituates to it.
It's a really interesting technique and it's very effective in the treatment of anxiety and phobia and I wanted to use it in a science fiction context. So these weird, creepy simulated realities in which a character confronts their deepest fear was like the little piece of inspiration that started the series, I guess."
You landed a book deal while you were still in your senior year at Northwestern. How did you pull that off?
"I don't know. It was always my ambition to get a book published someday. There are a lot of people working very hard to make that happen and it's just that for some people it could happen and for some people it doesn't. For some people they have to wait a long time and some people hit it on the first try and I was just one of those very lucky people who the timing kind of match up very well for me."
What was it like for you when you visited the set?
"Well, I have a kind of philosophy about detaching yourself from your work once it's done simply because I think that's the best way to improve as a writer. It's the way that you can accept constructive criticism in the best way so I wanted to be open minded, and I think I carried that philosophy into the movie adaption process. I recognize that it was a new medium and that they would have to adjust the source material to suit that medium and we were all concerned with making a good movie.
"I tried to experience it as it came and to see it as someone else's interpretation of the work and to see that as a kind of reawakening of the work for me so it was like watching, I mean it was definitely my book and I think they stayed pretty true to it, but it was also like rediscovering it at the same time so I tried to focus on that kind of magical rare thing instead of the 'Oh, but they took out some of my favorite characters,' that kind of thing. Like I wasn't going to hold on to that because how many people walk around in a movie set and think like these were my ideas and someone is making them into a serious thing. That's an incredible gift and I try to appreciate it, I don't know. "