On the final day before the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration take effect, Take Two checks in with California Congressmen Tom McClintock and Xavier Becerra about the budget impasse. Music writer Melissa Locker goes through the playlist of what makes a great rock anthem for a state, what should California's be? And if you're looking to dine out this weekend, you might want to head to Rosemead's Bahooka, a family-run tiki restaurant that's been serving crab puffs and fruity cocktails since 1967. Sadly, Bahooka is closing later this month. Vintage LA's Alison Martino prepares her eulogy and gives us the history of tiki in southern California.
California Congressmen Tom McClintock & Xavier Becerra on Day One of sequestration
March 1 marks the start of sequester, something that Reps. Tom McClintock and Xavier Becerra are none too happy about.
Sequestration represents $85 billion worth of across-the-board, automatic budget cuts. The two Congressmen talk about how the country fell into this situation.
Today is also the start of the the annual state Republican convention in Sacramento, which McClintock will be attending. Topping the agenda will be outreach to Latino voters and immigration.
Guests: Republican Congressman Tom McClintock of California's 4th district; Democratic Congressman Xavier Becerra of the 34th district
Friday Flashback: Sequestration, the race for LA Mayor and rat brains
The sequester: it arrives with something of a whimper. The LA mayoral race has become kind of a slug-fest, and linking together ... rats' brains?
We'll talk about the week that was with our regular roundtables. On tap this week, James Rainey of the L.A. Times and Marketplace reporter David Gura.
Is the NFL's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' culture changing?
The NFL says it will investigate claims made by three college players who say they were asked about their sexual preference and whether they “liked girls” at this year’s scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Nick Kasa, a tight end who attended Colorado University, told ESPN Denver that “[Team officials] ask you like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ Are you married?’ Do you like girls? Those kinds of things, and you know it was just kind of weird. But they would ask you with a straight face, and it’s a pretty weird experience altogether.”
It’s against the NFL's collective bargaining agreement and against the law to ask about sexual orientation, but, during the week-long showcase where college football players go through a series of physical and mental tests in front NFL personnel, few things are off limits.
, commentator for CNN and ESPN, joins the show to discuss the NFL's culture towards homosexuality.
Massachusetts Battles for the State's Rock Song
California already has an official song -- "I Love You California."
It was written by an L.A. clothier Francis Bernard Silverwood, and made its debut in 1913.
Every other state in the nation also has a song, but in Massachusetts, one doesn't appear to be enough.
And they're having a ... BATTLE OF THE BANDS!
Modern Lovers VERSUS Aerosmith
Two weeks ago, Massachusetts State Representative Martin Walsh filed a bill proposing the state's official ROCK song to be "Roadrunner" by the Modern Lovers.
But then, earlier this week, two other state representatives -- James Cantwell of Marshfield and Josh Cutler of Duxbury -- floated a competing bill to get Aerosmith's "Dream On" as the state's official jam.
For why a state would need a rock song, and how to pick the best one, is Time magazine's music writer Melissa Locker.
YOUR TAKE: What do you think should be California's official rock song? Tell us below!
Vintage Los Angeles: The closing of Bahooka and the decline of tiki culture in LA
If you're looking to dine out this weekend, you might want to head to Rosemead.
That's where you'll find Bahooka - a tiki-themed, family restaurant that's been serving up crab puffs and fruity cocktails with names like Lak-A-Nooki and Cobra's Strike since 1967. Sadly, Bahooka is closing this March 10.
Alison Martino will certainly be making a final run to see the beloved tiki restaurant. She's the founder of the "Vintage Los Angeles" website and Facebook page, and a lover of all things kitsch.
"I think my favorite thing is the see-through fish tank bar," she says of the interior, which she describes as akin to being inside a giant fish tank.
Bahooka is just the latest of a slew of once-popular tiki-themed restaurants to shut down in Southern California. The original Don the Beachcomber opened in 1934 and kicked off the Polynesian craze which led to Seven Seas and later Trader Vic's and the Luau in Beverly Hills.
Martino says you can still get a taste of authentic tiki culture at the Tiki-Ti bar in Silverlake. It's founder Ray Buhan was an original bartender at Don the Beachcomber. He opened the Tiki-Ti in the 60s and his family has been running the bar with the same tropical drink recipes ever since.
LA Mayoral candidate Emanuel Pleitez looks to increase profile
The conventional wisdom in Los Angeles is that Emanuel Pleitez’s campaign for mayor is going nowhere. If so, it’s definitely going nowhere fast. The 30-year-old former tech executive is spending his final days running for mayor performing a low-tech, high-speed publicity stunt designed to increase name recognition. KPCC's Grant Slater followed the hopeful mayor on the campaign trail.
Breaking down LAUSD's school board elections
Based on the media coverage and celebrity endorsements this LAUSD school board election has received, you’d think sitting on the seven-member panel was one of the most glamorous jobs in LA. And it is … if your idea of glamour is working crushing hours to wrangle a behemoth district that’s trying to reinvent itself amid warring factions, for less than $50,000 a year. KPCC's Vanessa Romo breaks down the race.
Study: Incarceration rates for blacks declined, while the rate for whites increased
A new study out this week from the Sentencing Project finds the number of whites and Hispanics in prison have increased, while incarceration rates for black Americans have dropped. The study looked at incarceration rates across the nation from 2000 to 2009.
Incarceration rates among women saw the biggest changes. Black women in prison dropped 30.7 percent, while there was a 47.1 percent rise for white women and an increase of 23.3 percent for Hispanic women. However, in 2009, black women were still 2.8 times more likely to be in prison then white women.
Men on the other hand saw less dramatic fluctuations. The rate of imprisonment for black men dropped 9.8 percent and rose 8.5 percent for white men. For Hispanic men, the rate dropped by 2.2 percent. But still, black men were 6.4 times more likely to be imprisoned than white men in 2009.
And even though some groups are being imprisoned less often, the overall rate of imprisonment has increased by a factor of five since 1970, and overcrowding is still an issue.
What's behind these changes? Marc Mauer is the author of that study and the Executive Director at The Sentencing Project. He joins Alex to discuss.
America's spiking hunger problem
Sequestration. Immigration. Gun Control.
With so many pressing issues demanding attention in this country, one issue seems to be fading from the headlines, even though the situation is worse than it's been in decades - HUNGER.
More than 50 million Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from - a condition known as food insecurity.
A study released by the Food Research and Action Center finds that L.A. County has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation: one in five people say they stuggled in the past year to buy food.
The new documentary and book, "A Place at the Table," explains how it's still possible for people to be hungry, when at the same time the country is struggling with an obesity epidemic.
Watch the trailer:
For example, those getting food stamp assistance may also find themselves in food deserts with limited access to healthy foods. Instead, they must rely on processed foods that drive up obesity rates but lack in nutrition.
Even so, the bar to receive food stamps is high: a family of three must earn less than $24,000 a year to qualify. Single mother Barbie Izquierdo from Philadelphia learned that unforunate lesson when she earned just $2 above the threshold.
The film also features 10-year-old Rosie from Collbran, Colorado. "Anytime I'm looking at the teacher, I look at her and all I think about is food," she says. "Sometimes when I look at her, I envision her as a banana so looks like a banana. And everybody in the class is like apples or oranges. And I'm like, oh great."
Hunger and malnutrition is detrimental like her: studies show that it can stunt physical and intellectual development that can last a person's whole life.
The film and book, "A Place at the Table," is available today on demand and on iTunes, as well as in theatres throughout California.
Marine protection areas paying off on Calif. coast
The fish and sea life that call California's oceans home have been in trouble for the past few decades. Overfishing and pollution have threatened fish populations and diversity.
Six years ago, the legislature took a drastic step and blocked out certain areas of our coastline as "marine protected areas" that banned fishing. New research shows that their efforts may be paying off.
Dr Liz Whiteman of the California Ocean Science Trust, which led the monitoring effort in California, joins the show to discuss the progress that has been made.