Today on the show, we'll start with the LA Fire Commission's audit of recruitment in the LAFD. Then, a Colorado prison director recounts his experience in solitary confinement. Plus, tech companies put big bucks into office space design hoping to foster creativity, artist Daniel Joseph Martinez's 'Ship Of Fools' show comes to LA, San Francisco votes to ban sale of plastic water bottles, plus much more.
LA Fire Commission launches audit in fire department's recruiting
The Los Angeles Fire Department has been under scrutiny for the lack of diversity in its ranks. Now, the city's Fire Commission has asked an independent assessor to look into how the department recruits and hires new firefighters.
Take Two talks to fire commission president, Delia Ibarra.
Colorado prison director recounts experience in solitary confinement
The movement to reduce solitary confinement in prison is gaining steam.
Last week, at a Senate subcommittee hearing, Senator Dick Durbin called the practice, "a human rights issue we can't ignore." Among those who testified at that hearing is our next guest, the head of Colorado's Department of Corrections Rick Raemisch.
He said solitary confinement is "overused, misused, and abused," and he would know. He recently decided to spend 20 hours in solitary confinement himself.
Raemisch joins the show to talk about his experience.
Hoping to foster creativity, tech companies put big bucks into office design
In a couple of weeks, employees at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco will be eating lunch in a pair of old log cabins from the 1800s.
The cabins were originally part of remote ranches in small Montana towns. The architect tasked with designing Twitter's new offices says the cabins help evoke a forest theme, in keeping with the company's famous bird logo.
These days plenty of tech companies are investing good chunks of their fortunes into getting just the right look and feel to their offices. It's a trend the New York Times' deputy tech editor Quentin Hardy has been writing about and he joins us now.
Artist Daniel Joseph Martinez's 'Ship of Fools' explores changing LA neighborhoods
Artist Daniel Joseph Martinez spent three years riding the buses of Los Angeles – at some points up to 10 hours a day – taking notes, observing street scenes and imagining the inner lives of his fellow passengers.
Those musings form the inspiration for his current show at the Roberts & Tilton Gallery in Culver City. For a show so infused by movement, he sums up his goal for the work in a striking way.
“I’m just asking people to stop for a second,” said Martinez on Take Two. “And imagine what other worlds might be like.”
The term Narrenshiff in the title is a reference to a 15th century book of satire known in English as The Ship of Fools. Martinez wants to use L.A.’s bus system as a kind of “waterway,” and a metaphor to explore the city from a different perspective.
“What I did is I took the same idea of being on a ‘Ship of Fools’ and I thought about growing up in Los Angeles and riding the bus,” said Martinez. “It becomes one of the most interesting portraits of Los Angeles, people riding the bus.”
In many ways, the show is also a loving chronicle of rapidly changing neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Most directly, the photographs and colors draw from Martinez’s current neighborhood in the Crenshaw district, but there are also references to his time in other parts of the city, growing up in Inglewood and living downtown (before the district’s resurgence) and in Boyle Heights.
The show is divided into two sections in the gallery. The smaller, more intimate room features photographs of storefronts, along the bus route that Martinez travelled.
Some feature graffiti that Martinez put on the buildings himself. The combination of storefronts and graffiti can be surprising in a landscape where nearly all public signs are designed to advertise.
“I’m trying to insert poetry into the streets,” said Martinez. “I’m trying to rupture how we see signage.”
The second, much-larger gallery is lined with rows of hand-painted canvases with broad, colorful text across the front. The words, says Martinez are inspired by overheard phrases on his bus rides or what he imagined passengers were thinking.
At the heart of much of his work is the idea of asking questions of the viewer or making suggestions that spark a response.
On a recent visit to the Gallery he paused by one photograph that showed the plain, blue siding of a school wall.
“Are you open to new ideas in the world you live in or do you live a life that is one you inherited?” he asks.
The current show runs through March 8.
More details about the current exhibit at the Roberts & Tilton Gallery.
Roberts & Tilton Gallery
5801 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, California 90232
Phone: 323.549.0223
Sports Roundup: Lakers lose, LeBron James, spring training and more
The Lakers keep taking their fans to strange new places. Turns out you can't go home again, without people questioning your motives, and how kissing a gator is all part of good clean fun. All that means it's time for sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, who have covered sports for ESPN and the LA Times.
The Lakers lost last night to the New Orleans Pelicans 132-125, so there wasn't much defense being played. Head Coach Mike D'Antoni prefers to run a very fast paced offense that can be exhausting to the players and he was asked if this could be a reason why his team doesn't seem to have the energy to play defense.
The sustainability of playing that style has always been a subject of debate in the basketball world.
The more the Lakers lose, the better chance they'll have to secure a higher draft pick. There are large groups of Lakers fans that are actually rooting for the team to lose. Does that make someone any less of a fan?
LeBron James wants to back to Cleveland, but just for one night.
Switching to college football, player safety is a subject always up for debate, but a new proposal has some questioning the motives of its supporters.
Barry Switzer won three national championships with the University of Oklahoma. His QB in 1985 was Jamelle Holloway, who is African American. He was asked that if he was coaching today would he ever recruit a white QB.
Last thing, baseball spring training has a lot of downtime. Ballplayers have to find ways to occupy themselves, but kissing an alligator? Someone has too much time on their hands.
California drought one more setback for river that runs dry
This weekend's storm didn't dump enough rain to put a dent in California's drought.
Meanwhile, the state's tight water supplies have focused attention on environmental restoration projects, especially the effort to bring salmon back to California's second longest river, the San Joaquin. But Republican House Speaker John Boehner is pushing a bill to kill that project.
The California Report's Lauren Sommer looks at how lack of rain is affecting one of the most ambitious restoration efforts in the state.
San Francisco votes to ban the sale of plastic bottled water
San Francisco city leaders have voted to ban the sale of plastic bottled water on public property, making it one of the strictest bans in the country.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the sale and distribution of water in plastic bottles of up to 21 ounces on city properties in including parks, plazas and buildings. Supervisor David Chiu says the goal is to end plastic waste.
The ban would begin in phases starting in October and would go into effect on city streets and sidewalks by 2016. The plan also requires more drinking fountains and refillable bottle stations be built.
The International Bottled Water Association says most people won't carry refillable containers and bottled water bans would encourage consumers to turn to high-calorie sugary drinks.
With contributions by the Associated Press.
Mount Everest climbers urged to return to base with trash
Climbing to the top of Mount Everest isn't for the faint of heart.
It can often takes weeks to reach the summit, and starting this year, you won't just bring back a sense of accomplish. You'll also be forced to tote more than 17 pounds of trash down with you, too.
The Nepalese government hopes to clean up the tons of trash that have been left by climbers over the past six decades. For more we're joined by Dawa Steven Sherpa with the expedition firm Asian Trekking. He's also summitted Everest twice, and joins us from Kathmandu, Nepal.
Rangers close NorCal redwood parkway to keep out wood poachers
Campers beware! If you're planning on driving up to the Prairie Creek Redwoods, you might find yourself staring at a closed road. Park officials have started closing down the Newton Drury Parkway to try to keep out wood poachers
For more, we're joined by Jeff Denny, a park ranger at Redwood National and State Parks.
LA City Council restricts use of e-cigarettes in public places
The LA City Council voted yesterday to ban the use of e-cigarettes, also called "vaping," in restaurants, bars, parks, and other public places.
The ban is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Eric Garcetti and when it goes into effect would treat e-cigarettes just like regular cigarettes. But there is an exception, the use of e-cigarettes would still be allowed in vaping stores and lounges.
Joining us to talk about the impact of the ban on his business is Brandon O'Connell. He is the head of marketing for VapeDay, a vape store and lounge in the Carthay neighborhood of Los Angeles.
LA steps up effort to snag 2024 Olympics
L.A. last hosted the Olympics in 1984, and they were considered a huge success. Officials here are hoping for a repeat four decades later by hosting the 2024 Games, but that past gold medal performance might actually be a liability for Los Angeles.
That's right, when it comes to hosting an Olympics, L.A. might be too good for it's own good.
To explain why, we're joined by Barry Sanders, chair of the Southern California Committee for the Olympics Games.
Sanders believes that L.A. may have an advantage based on its infrastructure and drastic changes over the last few decades.
“We have infrastructure in terms of arenas. We have rail now that we didn’t have in 1984. By 2024, we’ll have a completed and fabulous rail system and an airport that will be well rebuilt by then,” Sanders says.
But it’s not just infrastructure that is the envy of other countries; it’s also the spirit of the city, of a new L.A., according to Sanders.
“We have a population that loves sports…This is an Olympic city, it’s in our DNA. We have more Olympians living in Southern California than anywhere else in the world, and the things we have to facilitate the Olympics are nothing but a plus.”
But L.A. still has a lot of work to do before presenting itself to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
“Hopefully if they select us to the International Olympic Committee for several years and show them a different, bold approach from what we took in the past,” he says.
The next step? The U.S. Olympic Committee must narrow down its consideration to two or four cities, and by next winter they’ll decide whether to bid, according to Sanders.
What do you think? Should L.A. bid for the 2024 Olympics? Do we have what it takes?
Here's what folks on Twitter had to say:
@KPCC @taketwo Yes. I've given up on it turning around its budget, so might as well go broke in style.
— USCITY3DAYWEEKENDPLANNER (@uscityplanner) March 5, 2014
@KPCC @taketwo Don't be like Detroit, which went broke without an Olympics
— USCITY3DAYWEEKENDPLANNER (@uscityplanner) March 5, 2014
Something to consider: Olympic Games projects are specifically CEQA-exempt. Projects will get built much much quicker. @KPCC @taketwo
— USCITY3DAYWEEKENDPLANNER (@uscityplanner) March 5, 2014
Let us know what you think in comments.
Funding for developmental disability services still stalled
Thousands of people in New Mexico have developmental disabilities, but it's been hard for them to get access to the full spectrum of services available through the government. Many have been waiting for as long as 10 years.
From the Fronteras Desk and KUNM, Deborah Martinez reports.
Why have romantic comedies fallen out of favor with moviegoers?
It's a story as old as time. Boy meets girl, girl falls in love, boy and girl make a whole lot of money at the box office and suddenly boy dumps girl and never calls her back.
OK, maybe it's not the classic story line, but it seems to be what's happening to the romantic comedy. There was a time when rom-coms ruled the box office and turned aspiring starlets into America's sweetheart.
Today rom-coms are like yesterday's wedding cake left out in the rain. A soggy sad reminder of a love story gone bad. So who killed the romantic comedy? Amy Nicholson from LA Weekly wrote about this and joins us to discuss.