Today on the show we'll start with an interview with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti about his trip to Mexico City and the work he's doing there. Then, President Obama's budget calls on tax cuts for middle class and more funding for the poor. Plus, water witching, the future of Los Angeles, nursing home closure controversy, Filipino art and more
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti on Mexico City, clean energy and more
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is in Mexico City this week meeting with business leaders and state and local officials. Garcetti and Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa announced an agreement yesterday that aims to promote new projects in clean energy, biomedicine and business creation.
For more we're joined by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
SoCal Ukrainians divided over future of home country
In the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Los Angeles, Mary Billey sang Catholic hymns with dozens of other immigrants in their native Ukrainian tongue.
The start of Lent was just days away, but worry over relatives in Ukraine had followed her to the place where she seeks solace.
"I am scared and angry, I’m all of that," said Billey, a 79-year-old grandmother who emigrated to the US as a young girl. "You get emotional because you don’t forget where you were born."
Ukrainian immigrants in southern California have nervously watched as political protests in Kiev that began in November resulted in the ouster of Ukraine's president more than a week ago. Russian president Vladimir Putin added spark to the situation on Saturday, ordering troops into the pro-Russian Crimean Peninsula to protect Russian interests in the region.
KPCC's Josie Huang has the story.
Obama Budget: Tax cuts for middle class, funding for anti-poverty
Today President Obama releases his budget plan. It features tax cuts for the middle-class and more funding for anti-poverty programs.
This is just the first step in what promises to be a lengthy debate over federal spending and priorities as Republicans are expected to release their own plan in the coming weeks. For more, we're joined by Lauren French, tax policy reporter for POLITICO.
What LA's future could be if money and politics weren't issues
The ethos behind President Obama's budget hinges on the idea, "Opportunity for all."
It's a future that tackles income inequality, and where the economic playing field is leveled. But what if LA was given its own blank check? One that could be used to make any kind of future it wanted.
Imagine an L.A., where community gardens overtake empty, blighted lots in your neighborhood. One where your children all learn to code and become vital to the future of the Internet. And a future with a subway system that rivals New York's and eases congestion on the freeway so much that you could never say you were late because of "traffic" ever again.
From small ideas to big, a look now at what a vision for LA's own future could look like with Tara Roth, president of the Goldhirsh Foundation.
Meet Marc Mondavi, well-known vintner and self-proclaimed 'water witch'
California did get a bit of rain recently, but drought remains a persistent problem. And while no one can make it rain, farmers can try to look for more water underground.
To do that, many have been relying on a practice known as "dowsing" or "water witching."
Marc Mondavi is a self-proclaimed water witch. A member of the famous winemaking Mondavi clan, he's also a vintner, and has created a line of wines called "The Divining Rod," a nod to his other line of work. Thanks to the drought, Mondavi has been getting plenty of calls lately.
Using art to reinforce identity and ties to the Philippines
Los Angeles is home to the biggest Filipino population in the mainland U.S. However, they have limited access to art from their home country. A new exhibit at USC's Fisher Art Museum gives these residents a rare chance to reconnect with the breadth of Filipino creativity.
The California Report's Alex Schmidt has a story about this collection called "The Triumph of Philippine Art."
A projector casts four images on a wall. It makes a clicking sound, and then the images spin, as if they were reels on a slot machine. The piece, by artist Mark Salvatus, shows the gritty streets and graffiti of Manila.
In one of the first museum exhibits of its kind, a broad swath of Filipino art has been assembled into a traveling exhibition, currently on view at the USC Fisher Museum of Art in Los Angeles. Speaking of the projected photo piece, the exhibit's curator, Maria Teresa Lapid Rodriguez, called it "a confessional of the masses," showing, as it does, many of the words scribbled on the urban landscape.
"The artist, Mark Salvatus, was so fascinated to go to the city. He grew up in the countryside and when he saw the city, he just started photographing it."
The show covers the period of martial law implemented under Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, through the People Power movement that removed him and restored democracy in the '80s, to the present day.
"The Philippines has been struggling for a long time, and they're coming out now," Rodriguez said. "The sense of freedom, nationalism, it's all in this show."
Other pieces in the exhibition include a long pencil sketch of a grand Philippines estate drawn on a roll of toilet paper, and a video of a performance piece with the artist hacking at white laundry, as blood spurts out and reddens the pile.
It took Rodriguez 20 years to generate the interest and funds for an exhibition like this. She took it as a challenge -- and an indication that there was no consciousness of contemporary Filipino art -- and stuck with the idea.
Los Angeles is a case in point. The city is home to more than 600,000 Filipino-Americans, but this show is the first time some of them have seen art from the Philippines. Ivan Blanco, a fine arts student at USC, wandered into the museum.
"Well, I'm Filipino, so I figured I'd check out some art made by Filipino artists," Blanco remarked. "I don't really know that much about my culture as I thought I did, but seeing art made by other Filipinos is cool and it's making me more interested in uncovering my culture."
A divide with the home country is common in the Filipino-American community. Geography is one barrier. But according to Evelyn Rodriguez, a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco, there’s also the issue of fading into the woodwork as a distinct ethnic group.
"Filipinos are part of this brown population in the States that a lot of people sort of homogenize," Rodriguez said. "So people classify a lot of us with other Asian-American groups or even Latinos. So, it's a community that has been invisible for a long time."
But in L.A., that community has been creating distinct cultural capital for about two decades. There’s Filipino-American painting, performance art, animation, a yearly cultural festival and a thriving music video scene.
At a recent festival devoted exclusively to Filipino and Filipino-American music videos, viewers laughed at inside jokes as they watched Filipino-Americans rap as they drove around the streets of Los Angeles. In other videos, campy game-show hosts introduced singers in Tagalog. The festival was co-sponsored by the organization FilAm ARTS, which connects artists and stages shows and festivals around California.
"Having more of these shows is really important because it solidifies our identity," said artist Tala Mateo, who works with FilAm ARTS. Mateo thinks an artistic identity can help the sizable Filipino-American population in Los Angeles be heard. And developing ties with the home country would also give U.S.-based Filipino-American artists an important historical reference point upon which to draw.
"Who we're a part of, who we're attached to, who we're related to. If we get lost in any way, shape or form, at least we can hold onto that and know we come from somewhere," she said.
Mateo believes that developing ties and understanding between the U.S. and the Philippines is a matter of survival, on both sides of the ocean. Art can be one way to foster that.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Regina Carter, Linda Perhacs, La Santa Cecilia and 3BallMTY
It's Tuesday, which means that it's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our weekly new music segment. This week we're joined by music critic Steve Hochman and associate editor of Latin and Special Features at Billboard, Justino Aguila.
Steve's Picks:
Artist: Regina Carter
Album: Southern Comfort
Release Date: March 4
Songs: “Shoo Rye,” “Honky Tonkin”
Regina Carter certainly has justified being awarded MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant in 2006. Already established as the preeminent jazz violinist, equally adept at swing, be-bop, standards and modern styles, and a formidable classical presence, recording Paganini pieces on his own violin.
In part with that MacArthur money, she took on intensive study of traditional African styles, which she wove masterfully into her own musical creations on the vibrant 2010 album "Reverse Thread." That, now, has led her back stateside, musically speaking, with the equally exciting Southern Comfort, which in the liner notes she describes as “a musical journey tracing my father’s roots in the American South.”
What Carter found in her own journey through this music is, as with what she found in Africa, much more varied than some might have thought. Southern music brings together many different cultural stream — African of course, but also Scottish, German, French, Spanish among the many peoples who streamed to that region over the generations.
All that is represented here, from children’s game rhymes (“Shoo Rye”) to French Cajun dance tunes (iconic Louisiana fiddler Dennis McGhee’s “Blues de Basile,” a lively duel between her fiddle and Will Holhouser’s accordion) to bedrocks of modern country music (Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin’,” centered on parries between Carter and Adam Rogers’ guitar). The latter might be a surprise in this context, but the way she and her band play it — the way they play everything — the thread remains strong. Or, should we say, she is the strong thread through this.
The way they play it is swingin’. Like "Reverse Thread" this is all thoroughly researched, but never sounds academic. Not staid in a classical sense or forced in its jazziness, but true to both the material and the artist. It’s all loose, free. Ideas unwind, the melodies take improvisational flight, the musicians clearly playing off each other. Even the somber tunes have a playful vivaciousness.
At times it’s a folk-jazz hybrid recalls mandolinist David Grisman’s classic bluegrass-jazz excursions, or country-jazz comparable to some of Bill Frisell’s albums of Nashville material. “I Moaned and I Moaned” builds to a rock-informed atmospheric intensity. But it never really sounds like anything other than Regina Carter, which makes us eager to see where the thread will lead next.
Artist: Linda Perhacs
Album: The Soul of All Natural Things
Release Date: March 4
Songs: “The Soul of All Natural Things,” “Children.”
Recently we talked about Neneh Cherry with her first album in 16 years. How about someone with a first album in 44 years?
You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of Linda Perhacs. Her 1970 album "Parallelograms" was, well, “obscurity” doesn’t quite cover how far below the pop radar it was, and Perhacs apparently returned to the life of a dental hygienist she had been living in L.A. But in the mid-2000s the album and its experimental folk-pop — sort of a mildly psychedelic spin on Joni Mitchell’s early sound — found its way to some young music explorers and with a reissue came to be a celebrated as a shared secret by artists from freak-folker Devendra Banhart (who ultimately got her to sing backup on one of his songs) to sonic adventurers Daft Punk (who used the song “Parallelograms” in a film).
A couple of years ago, she was coaxed into coming out of the shadows by musician-producer Fernando Perdomo, who along with Bill Price set to work on a new album. With some contributions from Julia Holter — who we featured in a recent reviews segment — and Ramona Gonzalez of the group Nite Jewel — the result is the album "The Soul of All Natural Things," a charming renewal of the early promise. As the title and title song tip off, there’s a New Age spirituality running through the album.
There is some modern artiness, such as the electronics on “Intensity” but for the most part it’s an update of her Aquarian folk-pop, not a recreation so much as a continuation befitting someone who is 44 years older. Her voice is maybe a little shaky here and there, but that adds to the personal touch, all honored and enhanced by her young admirers, who are clearly thrilled to be giving her another shot.
Justino's picks
Album: Someday New
Release Date: March 4
Songs: Strawberry Fields Forever and Cumbia Morada
La Santa Cecilia's previously released song "Ice El Hielo" was written in tribute to undocumented residents of the U.S. The bilingual band has a fan in Elvis Costello who previously recorded "Losing Game" with the band. Lead singer La Marisoul also appeared with Costello on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."
La Santa Cecilia, the Los Angeles-based band that recently won a Grammy for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album, returns with new and illuminating music. Led by La Marisoul, the soulful songstress with undeniable chops, the group returns with an EP, 7 new songs and 2 previously released tracks.
It is the critically acclaimed songs "La Monedita" and "El Hielo" that have resonated and helped the band reach a wider audience. Those two offerings, from the 30 Dias project, are included on the EP with compositions that build poetically with the new music that represents the bands versatile style, which can go from romantic Mexican ballads to blues-inspired melodies and to an occasional cover song.
One of those new songs is "Cumbia Morada," which shows the power of La Marisoul's vocals. Accordionist Pepe Carlos, percussionist Miguel "Oso" Rami and bassist Alex Bendaña all work in unison to create a sound that is making fans out of many including Elvis Costello who appeared on the group's previous album.
La Marisoul takes on "Strawberry Fields Forever" this time, giving a new dimension through an arrangement that’s smooth, smart and genuinely a fresh take on the classic Beatles song. The album is produced by Grammy-winning Sebastian Krys, who has worked with singers such as Shakira and Marc Anthony.
Artist: 3BallMTY
Album: Globall
Release Date: March 25
Songs: Quiero Bailar (All Through the Night) featuring Becky G and La Noche Es Tuya featuring Gerardo Ortiz and America Sierra.
The three DJs that make up 3BallMTY started making beats when they were barely teenagers. Now they travel the world both with music that's rooted in regional Mexican music and electronic dance music. They opened up for Justin Bieber in 2012 when he performed at the Zócalo, the main square in the heart of Mexico City as 200,000 music filled up the area.
3BallMTY, which consists of Erick Rincon, Sergio Zavala and Alberto Presenda, have been making a name for themselves even when they were barely teens and creating beats for music they would mix for their live DJ sets. Now the trio returns with their sophomore album, which includes the tribal guarachero sound that made them the talk of the industry and eventually landed them a recording contract with Latin Power Music and a distribution deal with Universal.
The new album, Globall, once again ignites the energy that the DJs brought with their first album complete with more offerings in a hybrid genre that ultimately has become an urban sound that's catching on around the world. "La Noche Es Tuya," featuring regional Mexican star Gerardo Ortiz and America Sierra, is a nod to 3BallMTY's beginnings in a club-friendly song pairs the vocals of Ortiz and Sierra, each who have in recent years gained a steady base.
It is the L.A.-based rapper Becky G who shines in "Queiro Bailar (All Through the Night)," which allows 3ballMTY to show some of their best work in an album that was produced by veteran producer Toy Selectah, who helped take the group to a new level that's now extended beyond the U.S. and Mexico with fans around the world.
LA County closed nursing-home safety cases without investigations
Facing a backlog of hundreds of health and safety complaints about nursing homes, Los Angeles County public health officials told inspectors to close cases without fully investigating them, according to internal documents and interviews.
The effort — known as the “Complaint Workload Clean Up Project” — has been going on since at least the summer of 2012, according to internal memoranda sent to managers and inspectors by county Department of Public Health supervisors.
RELATED: LA County closed nursing-home safety cases without investigations
State and federal officials, who contract with Los Angeles County to inspect nursing homes on their behalf, said they are now investigating the matter.
For Kaiser Health News, Anna Gorman has the story.
New legislation reconsiders juvenile sentencing and placement
New legislation working its way through Sacramento could ease penalties for some juvenile offenders, including those who commit murder.
The legislation is inspired by a case out of Riverside involving a 10-year old boy who shot and killed his father several years ago. The California Reports LA bureau Chief Steven Cuevas has more.
Is your second language a 'secret' language?
Here in Southern California, there are hundreds of different languages being spoken every day. But you probably don't understand them all.
Here's a scenario: You're out at a coffee shop, and people at the next table start talking in a foreign language...about you. Maybe you can only tell based on how they look at you. Or maybe you caught them because you know the language.
That is what we're calling using your second language as a "secret" language. It's definitely happened to listeners in KPCC's Public Insight Network.
KPCC Asks: When have you heard people talk about you in a different language? Or were you the one doing the talking, and got busted? Tell us in our Public Insight Network
A Martinez talked in studio with Joz Wang, blogger with the culture site 8Asians.com, and Maria Carreira, professor of Spanish at CSU-Long Beach and co-director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA.
When do you reveal you speak a foreign language?
Joz: "I'm one of those people who pretends to only speak English because then I can kind of listen to what's going on with the service [in a Chinese restaurant]. But, you know, I also see if I'm being treated differently if I'm only speaking English because if they're giving discounts to the dude at the next table speaking Chinese, well, you know, maybe I might choose to break out my Chinese."
Can you break it out at any time in LA?
Maria: "It depends on the language. In Southern California, we have a large population of Spanish speakers, so in many places Spanish will not give you any privacy. We did a study at UCLA of students who speak another language. One of the things they like most about speaking another language is that they can communicate secretly. Interestingly, no such answer appeared among the Spanish speakers."
How are looks deceiving when you're judging whether someone can speak a certain language?
Joz: "What you don't know, especially like with Chinese, is there could be a Vietnamese-Chinese next to you. So this person has a Vietnamese last name, they identify as Vietnamese, you look at them and you say, okay, you're Vietnamese because your last name is this. But what if they're Vietnamese-Chinese and they actually speak Chinese at home?"
Is it rude?
Maria: "Oh, it's considered very rude." But her own opinion: "Absolutely not. I think everybody should speak whatever they want! How often do you want to say something secret to your spouse or the person you're with? I don't think it's rude, but I will tell you, it is considered rude, and in some cases my students have told me that they are told that they are un-American."
What happens when you're busted?
Joz: "It's one thing to be busted. That's mortifying in itself. But I think also on the other end, you sit there while you're being talked about and say, what do I do about this? What do I say about this?"
Maria: "I'm the kind of person that would just remain quiet and pretend I didn't hear. It is awkward."
Joz: "Sometimes we've got to pick and choose our battles, right? So I think it might depend on my mood."
Tips for teaching toddlers water conservation
As California enters its fourth drought year, residents are being urged to conserve water.
Although the state was just hit by a storm, it was not enough. With all the talks of saving water, KPCC’s Deepa Fernandes wonders how that message is being taught to children.
LA teachers union leader seeks to file complaints over 'teacher jails'
The ten candidates for president of the Los Angeles teachers union will square off in a debate tonight in Boyle Heights.
One of the issues they all agree on is their disapproval of the school district's use of so-called "teacher jails" to discipline teachers who are under investigation for misconduct. That's according to a survey of the candidates conducted by the group that's putting on the debate, Educators 4 Excellence.
The union's current president, Warren Fletcher, who's also running, vowed yesterday to file federal and state age discrimination complaints over the disciplinary system that he says unfairly targets older teachers.
LA Times education reporter Howard Blume joins us to talk about the "teacher jail" controversy.
Some are enrolling in college just to get student loans
Student loans have been a problem for a long time
The amount of loans is now at $1.1 trillion dollars, but the problem may be getting even worse. Some believe that a growing number of people are enrolling in college, not to get a degree or training, but just to get a student loan.
In other words, to get their hands on some money so they can pay rent or bills. Josh Mitchell, economics reporter with the Wall Street Journal, joins the show with more.