The uncertain future of Slab City, a wrap up on a four-part series on LAPD's Mental Evaluation Unit, Susan Carpenter talks lane splitting.
California considers selling Slab City land
Slab City, just east of California's Salton Sea, is an abandoned Marine training facility that draws about 150 residents year round with its lack of electric lines, water, sewage, taxes and real rules to speak of.
But their future is uncertain, as the California State Land Commission considers selling the land. New York Times reporter Erik Eckholm tells more.
The Wheel Thing: Zipping between lanes on a motorbike. It's a California tradition
If you are a California motorist, you've experienced this: stuck in traffic, and glumly watching motorcycle riders slipping by, zipping along in the unused space between lanes.
Anywhere else in the country, this would be illegal. And even in California, it's not specifically legal, there are just no specific laws against lane splitting.
Is it dangerous? While the answer is almost certainly yes, there's no hard data, and in fact, some lane splitting proponents claim it helps prevent cars from rear-ending motorcycles, which is the most common accident between four and two-wheel motor vehicles. Proponents also say it helps reduce congestion.
While there are no specific regulations governing lane splitting, here are some tried-and-true guidelines for splitting lanes and living to tell about it.
- Never go more than about 10 mph faster than the traffic around you, and don't even try splitting if the traffic is moving at faster than about 30 mph.
- On the freeway, confine your splitting activity to the far left lanes.
- Consider the total environment - weather and road conditions, width of lanes, and over-sized vehicles in your path.
Drivers of cars and trucks should be aware that motorcycles have the same rights on the road as do four-wheel vehicles.
Motorcycle riders should be aware that drivers of cars are generally not expecting a two-wheeler to come slipping by, and may make sudden moves that could prove problematic, or worse.
Take Two host Alex Cohen hops on the back of Susan's Carpenter's motorcycle to get a taste of lane splitting.
Susan Carpenter is auto and motorcycle critic for the OC Register. She joins us for The Wheel Thing on Thursdays.
State of Affairs: Obama in LA, campaign fundraising, and the Latino vote
On this week's State of Affairs, President Obama visits L.A., a review of all the money spent on 2014 CA ballot props, and how the fight over immigration reform will impact the Latino vote.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy, and John Myers, KQED's senior editor for California Politics and Government, join Take Two.
Can the LAPD's Mental Evaluation Unit work for other departments?
We've been telling you this week about an elite team at the LAPD - its Mental Evaluation Unit, which tries to prevent violent confrontations between police and the mentally ill, and divert those with mental illness away from jail and into treatment.
Southern California Public Radio's Stephanie O'Neill continues her series by exploring whether the MEU is a viable model for the LA County Sheriff's Department.
If you'd like to check out the entire series, click through to Stephanie's post.
In the additional audio attached to this page, Stephanie and KPCC's Rina Palta joined A Martinez for a post-series chat to talk more about the MEU.
Mary Blair: The artistic force behind Disney's 'Cinderella'
Though you may not know the name Mary Blair, you're likely familiar with her work. Blair was a Disney studio artist and the concept designer behind the animated films "Peter Pan," "Alice in Wonderland," and "Cinderella," arguably the most iconic of the Disney classics.
The live action version of Cinderella will be out in theaters tomorrow, March 13.
For more on the Disney legend, Host Alex Cohen spoke with John Canemaker, professor and head of animation at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and author of "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair."
Beginning in the 1940's, Blair's work dominated at the Disney studios, which was an unusual amount of power for a woman to wield at the time. She was one of Walt Disney's favorite artists.
"Mary Blair was a fine art water colorist. She had this real classical background to her work so that when she did the fantasy she had a sophistication to her work that belied the naiveté of the work itself. Her work is often called 'childlike' but the technique behind it is anything but," said Canemaker.
Blair's role as a concept artists was to bring the ideas of the writers to life.
"A concept artist is someone who comes on at the very beginning of the production. They literally create from nothing the characters, what they might look like, what they wear, the colors that go into the costumes, the settings, the character relationships. She worked very closely with the story people, the writers at the studio. They would come up with these ideas and she would be asked to make a visualization of an idea." Said Canemaker.
Blair passed away in 1978, but the mark she left on the Disney brand and the animation landscape endures.
"Pete Doctor, who directed 'Monsters, Inc.' said every time they start a project they take out images of Mary Blair as inspiration.They look at her for ideas for color, shape, designs, and imaginative possibilities. She's still a big influence on children's book illustrators. Many of them admire her so much and they still consider her an inspiration. She's, in fact, almost bigger than she ever was when she was alive."