We look at UCLA's attempt to hire more Native Americans. And a fire survivor tells his story of losing his home in the graphic memoir, A Fire Story.
An update on the fallout over the rehiring of Deputy Mandoyan
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The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is going to court against its own sheriff to try to force him to seize the badge and gun of one of his deputies. The board argues Sheriff Alex Villanueva had no right to rehire Deputy Carl Mandoyan shortly after taking office and is calling his action unlawful. At the direction of the Supervisors, the county's Auditor-Controller has already stopped paying Mandoyan.
Guest:
- Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporter
Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services + DCFS
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Some new information in a story we've been covering for a few years now - Stories of two boys killed - five years apart - after reports of abuse went unheeded. Eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez died in 2013 after being beaten and starved by his mother. Then last year, 10-year old Anthony Avalos died after prosecutors say he suffered days of torture at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend. These cases have been viewed as a breakdown in reporting abuse procedures for the L.A. County Dept of Children and Family Services. Now, as the L.A. Times is reporting, a former counselor for an independently contracted child services agency withheld information of abuse in the Fernandez case and provided details in the Avalos case that helped support DCFS's decision to allow the boy to stay in that home.
Guest:
- Garrett Theroff, Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and collaborated with the Los Angeles Times for this story
Charter Bill transparency
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A slew of bills aimed at reining in charter schools have been making their way through the California legislature. What led to this seemingly anti-charter sentiment and what could the bills due to the states 1,300+ charter schools?
Guest:
- John Fensterwald, Ed Source
UCLA and Native Americans
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Southern California universities are taking the lead on opening relationships with Native American tribes. UCLA's chancellor appointed a new Native American issues adviser. It's a big deal because L.A. County has the second largest population of American Indians in the country.
Guest:
- Adolfo Guzman Lopez, KPCC higher education reporter
California Pension Ruling
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In a unanimous decision this morning, the California Supreme Court ruled that public employees' pension perks can be taken away. The specific perk in question is something called "air time," which let public employees buy up to five years of credit to boost their pensions as if they had worked that time. The court said these air-time perks were different from core pension rights such as how much public workers are paid, so they aren't protected by the state constitution.
Guest:
- Nari Rhee, Director of UC Berkeley's Retirement Security Program at the Center for Labor Research and Education
Huawei
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Readers of the LA Times might have been surprised when they clicked to open its web site today. The Chinese tech giant Huawei has been running a banner ad telling readers: "Don't believe everything you hear." The ad is one of several Huawei has been running in major media outlets over the past several days to combat U.S. authorities' charges that the company has engaged in bank fraud and technology theft.
Guest:
- Sara Fischer, media reporter for the web site Axios.com
The loss of Luke Perry
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Monday morning actor and pop idol Luke Perry died of complications from a stroke at 52. This was following reports of the actor's declining health just last week. The star was known for his role as Dylan McKay - the brooding teen of Beverly Hills 90210. As THE heartthrob of the 90s, Perry's passing marks an end of an era for many GEN-Xers.
Guest:
- Alan Sepinwall, TV critic with Rolling Stone