LA DOT chief Seleta Reynolds says pedestrian fatalities are tough to reduce, a guitarist for the Oscars plays Coco's vihuela, a Montecito resident prepares for the rain
What to expect when Trump visits California this month
This week on State of Affairs: Guess who's coming to town?
https://youtu.be/Dz2SN8wjSUY?t=10s
Yes, the commander-in-chief, President Trump, will visit California later this month. While here, he's expected to peruse prototypes for his long-heralded border wall in San Diego and attend a Republican fundraiser in Los Angeles.
Also:
- A spoiled immigration sweep in Oakland sparks a war of words between the mayor Libby Schaaf and the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- A report from U.S. News & World Report ranks California last in quality of life. But is the outlook really so bleak?
Jack Pitney on the U.S. News report:
It's really a tale of two states. For a lot of people, California is a great place to live. We have all the attractions, we have the cultural diversity and all of the intellectual resources, so it's a terrific place in that respect.
But, as Carla pointed out, it's not a great place to be poor. According to the US Census Bureau, the supplemental poverty measure, we actually have the highest poverty rate in the United States. So it's great for a lot of people, but for some Californians, not so great.
Guests:
- Carla Marinucci, senior editor of Politico's California Playbook
- Jack Pitney, Roy P. Crocker professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College
Can Vision Zero really eliminate LA's traffic deaths?
Los Angeles made some progress last year reducing traffic deaths.
The L.A. Department of Transportation reported Wednesday that overall road fatalities were down 6 percent in 2017 compared with a year earlier, but pedestrian deaths continue to trend upward. They increased 17 percent in 2017 and are up 82 percent since 2015.
Seleta Reynolds is general manager of the L.A. Department of Transportation. She joined Take Two to explain the city's progress toward meeting its goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025 under its Vision Zero Action Plan.
Why pedestrian fatalities continue to climb
Distraction and speed are two factors. There’s tremendous distraction for drivers inside the vehicles; [one] study showed that 80 percent of drivers are taking their eyes off the road for more than three seconds, and almost all crashes happen when drivers take their eyes off the road for three seconds.
Another theory about the overall increase in severe and fatal crashes for people walking is that people are speeding, so speed is the No. 1 predictor for whether or not a crash will be severe or fatal for somebody walking. Anytime your’e driving faster than 30 mph, if you hit somebody on foot, the chances of them surviving that crash are extremely low.
The most effective strategies for reducing traffic deaths
We’ve seen some really great early returns on streets where we’ve done things like put in dedicated left turn arrows. We have something called a leading pedestrian interval — that’s a pedestrian head start, so if you’re standing on the corner, you’ll get the white walker to step into the crosswalk before the drivers get a green light. That’s been powerful in New York and San Francisco and we think that’s going to work well in L.A.
The best story we have is a scramble crosswalk that allows you to cross in any direction on foot when it’s your turn. We put one in at Hollywood and Highland in 2016, and since it’s been there, we’ve only had one severe injury, and before that we had at least one a month.
Why L.A. is increasing speed limits in some areas
We’re raising the speed limit so police can enforce the speed. Before we finished the speed surveys, you could drive 100 mph on some of those streets and LAPD couldn’t write you a speeding ticket. We want LAPD to have a presence on these streets to be able to slow people down, so that’s the way to think about it. We changed the speed limits in order to be able to enforce them and we have to change the law to make streets more safe.
L.A. will continue to use road diets
We have dozens of tools in our toolbox to help us address safety. Sometimes there are streets when we look at the data, there are no strong trends that point us to any one solution in particular. Instead, what we see is a sustained pattern all along a corridor of people getting injured and killed. When we see that kind of a pattern, we know we have a problem with speed and we need a corridor strategy to address speed. We won’t be able to put a traffic signal at every intersection or just treat an intersection here or there. We try not to turn to that tool first because we understand how big the tradeoffs are for local neighborhoods, but it is one of the most powerful sustainable tools we have, so I don’t think it’s going to go away.
Is it possible to eliminate L.A.'s traffic deaths by 2025 with Vision Zero
We definitely have a long way to go. It’s absolutely still the right goal. We can all agree that the ideal would be that nobody gets killed on the streets, and we have to keep striving toward that goal. At the end of this year and by end of 2019, I would expect we would see the kinds of results that San Francisco and New York have seen, which is the lowest numbers of people dying on the streets in the last 50 years in New York. We’re following a similar playbook, using data to inform the interventions we make.
Evacuations lifted as Santa Barbara avoids major storm problems
The search for the perfect 'Remember Me' guitar for the Oscars orchestra
Sunday's 90th Academy Awards has a lot of moving parts. Directors, stage managers and producers all work behind the scenes to make the show run as smoothly as possible. That includes a live orchestra playing into commercials, out of speeches, weaving the show together.
One of the Oscar-nominated songs that will be performed live during the awards show calls for a very special instrument. It's a unique and hard-to-find guitar that sent guitarist Greg Porée on a search all over L.A.
One of two guitarists in the Academy Awards orchestra, Porée has played six of its awards shows. He says it's a massive undertaking that involves playing live music for almost every aspect of the telecast, including the opening and ending credits, when presenters go on stage, when honorees leave the stage, etc. Porée estimates he has to learn tens of thousands of notes for the entire three-hour program.
But one nominated song this year is so sweet, it can't just be played on any guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImutnoiBixY
"Remember Me" — from Disney and Pixar's "Coco" —called for a vihuela.
The Mexican vihuela, I believe it started in the 1800s, and it became very popular in mariachi bands because it's very loud and it's almost a percussive type of instrument where you strum it. It speaks very loudly. It cuts through all the singing and cuts through all the playing....
Porée describes the sound of the vihuela as a cross between a ukulele and a banjo because "...it has the sweetness and the charm of a ukulele and the loudness of a banjo."
With such a large Mexican population in L.A., it would be logical to think finding an affordable vihuela would not be difficult. But Porée quickly discovered that was not the case.
What was frustrating is that I called all the major guitar shops like Guitar Center and Sam Ash... Between friends and shops, I'd say there were about five different places that were like, the places, but when I called them, nothing was in stock.
And just when he was about to give up, he remembered, his youngest son was in the band Ozomatli.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCOvXDgST8
They use a lot of music that's Latin influenced and hip-hop and music that's indigenous of Mexico and so forth...So, I called Raul the guitarist and I said, 'Raul do you have one of these things?' and he said 'yeah Greg, come on by and get it.'
Problem solved.
I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to convey the admiration and the respect I have for all the people that have to make the music work for this event. My journey with this instrument was just a microcosm of what we have to go through.
The 90th Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 4th on ABC at 5:00 pm PST.
When will Latinos have better representation at the Oscars?
"Coco" is seen as something of a love letter to Mexico and has been applauded for its authentic portrayal of Mexican culture. But as you tune into the glitz and glamour of the Oscars this Sunday, you might notice that most of the nominees are not Latino. We actually counted, and out of 41 people nominated in the actor, director, screenwriter categories, only one was Latino.
The last time a Latino won in the best actor category was 1951. No Latina woman has ever taken home the best lead actress award. This is in spite of the fact that Latinos make up 23% of frequent moviegoers. So, where's the representation?
Jorge Gutierrez is an academy member, artist and director. Gutierrez pointed out that while male Latino directors seem to be exempt from the lack or representation, the movies that have won them awards do not shine a light on Latinos or their experience.
Alfonso Cuaron won recently, Gonzalez Iñárritu won recently, hopefully, Guillermo's going to win this year... A lot of these films are not about Latino characters, and they're not dealing with the stories coming from that community.
And so actors are not being cast to represent those stories and therefore no one's getting nominated. If these stories aren't told, there's no way to have the actors represent those stories.
Where's the cohesive moment for Latinos?
Obviously, I'm speaking from my personal experience. the Latino community is a little more fragmented because there is a large Mexican American community here in L.A. Then, the Cuban American community in Florida and then Puerto Rican and Dominican...and they're all completely different.
So, it's going to be a little harder to get us all together. But I think it can happen and there are organizations out there that are really trying to help.
One of those organizations is the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which is hosting a protest in Hollywood ahead of the Academy Awards. More information on that is here.
We also have films like "Coco," showcasing more representation. Is it fair to say the tide might be turning?
I think so, and what I love about animation is, I really believe you can't change adult minds, they're already formed. But kids, they're still forming themselves and they're still forming their view of the world and I think that's the power of animated movies when we can showcase other cultures and when we can illuminate children into seeing other things.
Do you feel like this movement is finally on the verge of happening?
Absolutely, I think this is a great start, but emphasis should be put not only on the Academy Awards but on the studios themselves...
The only power the Latino community has is the consumer power, the amount of money we're spending. So if people stop going to movies and start going to other movies that have Latino characters, that moves the needle in Hollywood. That's the only thing that moves the needle.
5 tips for throwing perfect 2018 Oscars party
Hosting an the Oscars viewing party this Sunday and wondering how to make it feel special? After all, you don't want guests to think they could've stayed home and watched the awards show in their pajamas.
Jordan Stringfellow is the owner of Jordi & Co., an event-planning and decor company. She's also a film buff who has hosted numerous Oscars viewing parties for her clients.
Here are her a few of her decor, dining and drinks tips so you can throw the perfect shindig.
- It's the 90th Academy Awards. An easy start is to get two large balloons that say "90" in a golden metallic color.
- Make movie-themed snacks... Deviled eggs are way to honor "Shape of Water" and an asparagus two-way celebrates "Phantom Thread." For "Get Out," serve at least one dessert or drink in a teacup.
- ...But don't get too obscure. You don't need to find a dish for every Best Picture nominee. Maybe skip the authentic WWII soldier's rations from "Dunkirk" and don't bother building three grilled cheese sandwich stands outside of Hollywood.
- Strike up the band. Download a few of the nominees for Best Original Music Score and compile your favorite tracks into a mega-playlist.
- Start early. The ceremony starts at 5 p.m. but you want your guests to arrive before then so they can mingle, get snacks and make catty comments about the best — and worst — red carpet outfits.
You can also download our Oscars 2018 bingo card and play along with KPCC
, where we'll be filling out our card throughout the show.
7 things to do on Oscars weekend in SoCal
The weekend's forecast calls for some rain, but there are still great reasons to go outside in Southern California.
CULTURAL PICK
Holi on the Beach
WHEN: Saturday, March 3 - Sunday, March 4; 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
WHERE: Sea Side Lagoon, 239 N. Harbor Dr., Redondo Beach. MAP
COST: $15; MORE INFO
Festival of Colors – Riverside
WHEN: Saturday, March 3; 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
WHERE: Martha McLean Park, 5759 Jurupa Ave., Riverside. MAP
COST: $6; MORE INFO
Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring with a massive outdoor party where revelers wear white, throw colorful powder and spray each other with water. In Redondo, you'll toss colors while overlooking the ocean and dancing to beats provided by DJ Darsh. In Riverside, watch Aakansha's BollyPop dancers and do some yoga led by Mohara Devi. In either locale, it'll be a big rainbow burst of fun.
BEACHY PICK
Dana Point Festival of Whales
WHEN: Saturday, March 3 - Sunday, March 4; 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
WHERE: Dana Point Harbor. MAP
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
There's more than just whale watching — although that can be spectacular — as Orange County celebrates the annual migration of the California gray whale. A Saturday morning parade, complete with giant orca, blue whale and other sea creature balloons, kicks off the festivities. Then a fair takes over the streets while a sand sculpting competition happens on the beach.
GREEN THUMB PICK
Tomatomania!
WHEN: Friday, March 2 - Sunday, March 11
WHERE: Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Rd., Corona del Mar. MAP
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
This humongous heirloom tomato seedling sale is packed with juicy events. Horticulturalist David Rizzo helps you "ketchup" on the latest tips for growing tomatoes in cold weather, containers and more. You can also ogle the Tomato of the Year, a beefsteak known as "Madame Marmande."
MUSIC PICK
Air + Style
WHEN: Saturday, March 3 - Sunday, March 4; 1 p.m.
WHERE: Expo Park, 700 Exposition Park Dr., Los Angeles. MAP
COST: $79 one-day general admission, $149 weekend pass; MORE INFO
This festival mashes up music acts such as Zedd, Phoenix, Gucci Mane and Tinashe with world-class snowboarders like Olympian Shaun White and skateboarders like Pedro Barros. Check out their superhuman tricks in between listening to some amazing songs.
LITERARY PICK
L.A. Food Book Fair
WHEN: Friday, March 2 - Sunday, March 4; 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
WHERE: Ace Hotel Los Angeles, 929 South Broadway, downtown Los Angeles. MAP.
ROW DTLA, 787 Alameda St., downtown Los Angeles. MAP
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Get your fill of all the latest food trends — and find some inspiration for your kitchen — at a fair that brings together chefs and critics to discuss topics like the rise of Asian-American cuisine and how health and wellness are driving menus. On Sunday, head to Smorgasburg for a pop-up market to peruse all the offerings by the indie food media in L.A.
CULTURE VULTURE PICK
L.A. Dance Festival: Rise of the Female
WHEN: Thursday, March 1 - Saturday, March 3, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Theater Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles. MAP
COST: $25 adults, $15 students; MORE INFO
L.A.'s top female contemporary dancers and choreographers come together to showcase their latest works. Each night offers performances that celebrate women's contribution to the world of dance.