Vandenberg Air Force Base to test unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile, why we may see more great white sharks off SoCal, this year's Mother's Day gift trends.
Was the missile test at Vandenberg Air Force Base meant to send a message?
Shortly after midnight Wednesday, the US conducted their second missile test in the past week, launching an unarmed Minuteman III missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Officials say the test has been planned for months. Even so, it comes at a tense time for the US, as longtime adversary North Korea continues to test missiles of their own.
Was the Wednesday morning launch simply a test or was it intended to send a message to the hermit country?
Take Two put this question to Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Southern California residents fear an increase in shark attacks
Recently a California woman was seriously injured by a shark off of the coast of San Clemente.
This follows another attack of a swimmer last Memorial Day, when a woman training for a triathlon nearly died after being mauled by a great white shark.
The attacks are the first on record in Orange County, a place where for decades, shark sightings were rare and usually confined to juveniles.
Many residents fear that it might be a new pattern. We talked to Chris Lowe, the head of the Shark Lab at Cal State - Long Beach.
Torrance Exxon Mobil Refinery explosion final report released
It's been a little more than two years since a massive explosion crippled the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance.
The most frightening element of the explosion – to those living near the refinery - was learning that a giant hunk of metal landed dangerously close to a tank of deadly chemicals. If they had spilled, that could have sent a toxic cloud into nearby homes.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board just released its final report on the Torrance Refinery explosion. KPCC’s infrastructure reporter Sharon McNary got an early look at the report and told Take Two's A Martinez what it said.
On what happened on the day of the explosion
Before nine in the morning, February 18, 2015, workers at the Torrance refinery were making a repair to a part of the refinery. So due to faulty and lacking safety procedures, according to this report, they didn't shut down the unit known as a fluid catalytic cracker. They worked on it while it was in a standby mode. It was turned on, but not processing anything. That's when some flammable hydrocarbons, which are gas and gas vapors, back flowed into a unit called an electrostatic precipitator.
It's a chamber with charge plates that produces sparks and, kablooey, it all blew up. That explosion blew a massive piece of metal, 41 tons, just feet from a tank of hydrochloric acid. That's a chemical that can vaporize and form a fast moving toxic cloud that hugs the ground and injures those in its path, possibly for miles around. The refinery says the hydrochloric acid has an additive to make it safer. Community activists, including local scientists, say that additive doesn't reduce the hazard and they're now trying to get the refinery to stop using the chemical.
On what caused the explosion
They say that it could have been prevented through better safety procedures, newer equipment and the right kind of instruments to detect the presence of gas vapors in that part of the refinery. To be specific, Exxon Mobil didn't have rules about how to safely do the repair on the catalytic cracker unit.
The refinery unit itself was out-dated by Exxon Mobil's own standards and that obsolescent equipment is what allowed the back wash of hydrocarbons and the gas vapors to get into the unit and explode. Also, the refinery didn't have the right kind of safety instruments to tell when those explosive gasses were flowing into the cat. cracker unit.
On how the U.S. Chemical Safety Board might be able to manage the problem for the future
The US Chemical Safety Board is kind of like my mean third-grade teacher. She doesn't punish all the bad kids, she'll pick out one misbehaving kid and it was usually me to be the public example for the rest to learn on. The safety board looks at industrial chemical accidents like this and it digs into the ones that have teachable lessons on things like how not to blow up a whole community.
To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above.
Sports Roundup: Can Lonzo Ball upset the system of shoe endorsement deals?
It's not something that Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan or even LeBron James did when they were coming into the NBA as rookies ... eschew the traditional shoe endorsement deal and create a partnershipwith a shoe company.
But that's the very thing that Lonzo Ball, the star UCLA freshman many expect to get selected early in next month's NBA draft, is trying to do.
Ball's father, LeVar Ball, has said repeatedly that what they are seeking is a company to form a licensing agreement with their company, Big Baller Brand gear.
Andy and Brian Kamenetzky join A Martinez t talk about it for Take Two's weekly installment of K2 Sports.
The Styled Side: does your mom want bling?
Have you already found a gift for mom?
Mother's Day is coming up, and Michelle Dalton Tyree reports that jewelry makes up 19 percent of gift purchases.
"So brunch, flowers and a card will NOT do the trick," she says.
Mother's Day beats Valentine's Day in sales at Yale Jewelers in Santa Monica, for example, where people will spend anywhere from $500 on up.
Older Millennials – that's the 25 to 34 year olds – spend the most according to the research firm Prosper Insights & Analytics.
"Pendants and necklaces are the top gift because they’re easy," says Tyree. "With rings you have to worry about sizing. Earrings can be tricky for people to know whether to buy pierced or clip on."
Personalized and monogrammed jewelry are also a popular trend, including handcrafted pendants of dog silhouettes by Carrie Cramer.