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Podcasts Take Two
California Primary election recap, the Thomas Fire is finally out, fire safe architecture
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Jun 6, 2018
Listen • 49:15
California Primary election recap, the Thomas Fire is finally out, fire safe architecture

Who won the top two spots for CA governor and U.S. Congressional seats, why the Thomas Fire was only now officially declared out, the architecture of fire safety.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox (left) and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom (right).
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox (left) and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom (right).
(
Courtesy John Cox, Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for the New York Times
)
A strong wind blows embers from smoldering trees at the Thomas Fire on December 16, 2017 in Montecito, California.
A strong wind blows embers from smoldering trees at the Thomas Fire on December 16, 2017 in Montecito, California.
(
David McNew/Getty Images
)
Image of John Davis' fire resistant home.
Image of John Davis' fire resistant home.
(
Davis and Brown Architecture
)

Now that the California Primary election is over, we look at the results. Who won the top two spots for governor and local Congressional seats? Plus, the Thomas Fire was only recently declared extinguished: what took so long? 

Primary voting didn't exactly go off without a hitch

(Starts at 1:17)

A printing error at nearly one-third of L.A. County polling spots left about 118,522 voters off the rolls.

Former gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa cried foul:

https://twitter.com/antonio4ca/status/1004217757347414016

The snafu affected voters across SoCal. Even The Fonz wasn't spared. 

https://twitter.com/hwinkler4real/status/1004181757694902272

But eventually, it worked out for him.

https://twitter.com/hwinkler4real/status/1004126623786938368

Eyyy. 

Plus: Can Tuesday's primary give us an idea of what to expect in November? 

Guests:

  • Jack Pitney, Claremont McKenna College professor
  • Carla Marinucci, senior editor for Politico's California Playbook

Is the LAUSD budget in trouble?

(Starts at 20:30)

A new report released Tuesday from a blue ribbon panel (the one that new superintendent Austin Beutner used to chair) has been trying to measure how much trouble the LAUSD’s budget is in. LAUSD has a whopping budget of seven and a half billion dollars and while that may sound like a lot to work with, LAUSD is headed for some serious financial troubles.

Guest:

  • Wendy Greuel, co-chair and former Controller for the city of Los Angeles

https://twitter.com/kystokes/status/1004108202194006016

The Thomas Fire is finally out

(Starts at 30:19)

In case you missed it, the Thomas Fire was declared officially out last Friday. Did you even know it was still burning? There are three main stages to dealing with a wildfire:

  • Containment—"By contained, fire crews have a line of containment around the entire perimeter and are convinced the fire will no longer grow in size."
  • Control—"When the fire no longer threatens the containment lines." Hot spots and flare-ups can be extinguished within the perimeter.
  • And finally, a fire is declared out when there has been "no hot spots detected within the containment lines for 48 hours."

When it came to the Thomas Fire, officials were overly cautious in waiting to declare it out due to the complexity of the fire. 

Guest:

  • Andrew Madsen, spokesperson for the Los Padres National Forest
A strong wind blows embers from smoldering trees at the Thomas Fire on December 16, 2017 in Montecito, California.
A strong wind blows embers from smoldering trees at the Thomas Fire on December 16, 2017 in Montecito, California.
(
David McNew/Getty Images
)

How to build a fire-resistant home

(Starts at 32:40)

The Thomas Fire destroyed more than 1,000 structures last year, but John Davis’s home in Ojai survived. And it wasn’t all luck. An architect by trade, Davis built the home to be fire-resistant using special building materials and strategies to protect his home from the ever-intensifying wildfires California faces.

Guest:

  • John Davis, architect
Image of John Davis' fire resistant home.
Image of John Davis' fire resistant home.
(
Davis and Brown Architecture
)

The president vs. athletes

(Starts at 39:20) 

The spat between President Donald Trump and the Philidelphia Eagles continues to have lingering effects. On Monday, the White House disinvited the team from its annual toasting of the Super Bowl champs after it learned few players planned to attend. A few testy tweets were fired off and verbal shots were taken at the team - as well as at the NFL —during the celebration, which still took place even though the super bowl winners weren't there.  Now, prominent NBA players are weighing in as the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers face each other tonight in game three of the playoffs.

Guests:

  • Andy and Brian Kamenetzky