USC Study: 2.3 million Californians are undocumented immigrants; Marco Rubio reaches out to Tea Party leaders on immigration reform; Should preschoolers be learning on iPads?; Group says San Bernardino councilwoman avoiding recall process; Getting to know the personal side of mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti; What LA's booming coyote population means for the roadrunner, plus much more.
USC Study: 2.3 million Californians are undocumented immigrants
Let's say you're an average, undocumented immigrant living here in LA county. Who would you be, and what would your life be like?
There's a very detailed answer: you might be 32 years old, and you came here from Mexico when you were 22., but now you call Koreatown or South LA home. You also live below the poverty line because your retail job only brings in $18,000 a year.
Those are just some of the stats in a new report about California's undocumented immigrants. It's called, "What's At Stake for the State."
Joining us for more is the study's co-author, Manuel Pastor, director of the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at USC.
Marco Rubio reaches out to Tea Party leaders on immigration reform
The Senate's Gang of Eight continues to hash out immigration reform. Yesterday, Florida Senator and Gang of Eight member Marco Rubio met with conservative Tea Party leaders and conservative republicans to talk about their views on the issue.
Fawn Johnson covers immigration for the National Journal and she joins us to discuss these latest developments.
Getting to know the personal side of mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti
In exactly two weeks, we'll be reporting the results of the LA mayor's race. The two candidates, Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti have been campaigning for months, and we've tried to cover all the issues they've been debating in the campaign.
But we thought it would make sense to try and get each of them to open up a bit. Learn a little more about what they are like, as people. Yesterday we ran an extended interview with Wendy Greuel, and today, we'll hear from her opponent, Eric Garcetti.
Alex caught up with him last weekend, after an event in Central Los Angeles.
Interview Highlights:
On his childhood growing up in the Valley:
"Classic valley boy experience. Hanging out at the miniature gold place, the Galleria, riding the RTD bus, going with friends on bikes and just exploring the Valley. A lot of Tommy's Burgers a lot of Carvel's soft serve ice cream. It felt very idyllic, it was the middle of nowhere, but at the same time the middle of the universe, because you could see reruns of the Brady Bunch and you knew that it was the Valley. You knew that the world was aware of you, but you also felt beautifully anonymous."
On how he came to politics:
"I don't think I ever decided to pursue a career in politics, but I always knew that I wanted to help make the world better to help create social change and economic and social justice, I didn't know whether that would be doing human rights work like I had done abroad and in Los Angeles, I didn't know if it was going to be continuing teaching, which I was doing before I got elected. Running for office is one of the ways you can do it, it'll be only one of the ways that I do this in my life, but I'm more committed to public service than politics."
On what makes Los Angeles so special:
"There's a cliche that you see the face of the world on the streets of Los Angeles, growing up here in this diverse city, I always found the opposite to be true, too. You'd see the face of Los Angeles on the streets of the world. I could be in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, I could be in Tokyo, Mumbai, Mexico City and they look like LA in a certain neighborhood in Los Angeles there's no difference. So I think there's a comfort that I have in making sure not only that we have strong ties internationally, but an ability to go out there and make sure that we're tied to the global economy and ready to be at the front of the line."
How his past international work influences his views of LA:
"For folks that come here from around the world, I'm ready to understand and help. I know that people have fled wars and economic conditions that I haven't just seen, that I've lived amidst and seen wars firsthand, I've seen the level of poverty, the lack of health care, all those things that drive people here. I also understand that people come here not fully knowing how things work in Los Angeles. Our success will be tied to fully integrating them in, just as my grandparents were, just as my own family came here from Europe and Mexico had no idea how things worked, but found a path to success."
On why he offers open office hours:
"You might be talking to a head of state back-to-back with a homeless person who has recently lost their job and their apartment and desperate. You're the last stop they have to try to get their life back on track. You have to learn to be a great listener, it's the most important thing in politics, and both the classroom as a teacher taught me that...same thing in politics, if you think you're just supposed to give good speeches at press conferences, you'll never solve people's problems...Office hours has been my way to stay grounded, to make sure people never have too many layers between them and me and that I'll always be held accountable."
On why he has kept his family behind the scenes during his campaign:
"I think family time is sacred. I think families are for all of us, places of strength and deep enjoyment, and I'm not interested in that being a part of my politics. There will be some unavoidable things for my family, we made the choice together and there are always public aspects to it. I didn't grow up in politics, a lot of people think that I did. My dad ran when I was graduated from college, actually, he won and was sworn in as district attorney, but I saw that nevertheless as a family member. It can really take a toll when someone you love and know as a great person is being attacked for something. I'm very protective of my family as a father as a husband, I decided to do this with them, but it's my professional life, it doesn't have to be their personal life."
Sports Roundup: LA baseball, Manchester United manager to retire and more
It's time for our weekly romp through sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky. They've covered the L.A. sports scene for over a decade for the Times and ESPN.
The Lakers and Clippers are done, so we'll begin with a check-in on the Dodgers and the Angels. Plus, there's another successful L.A. team, the LA Galaxy. They've won back to back MLS Cups, and they're playing well so far this season (they're currently 2nd place in the Western Conference).
No matter what happens with American soccer, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is going to retire with 13 EPL titles in 26 seasons, two Champions League titles and five Football Association Challenge Cups. We talk a lot about Phil Jackson in this town, but there's a good argument to be made for Ferguson as one of the greatest coaches of all-time.
Plus, more on Tim Tebow, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is in stable condition after being hit in the head by a line drive, and much more.
Announcing the winners of the LA2050 project
The LA2050 project by the Goldhirsh Foundation asked organizations across the city what they would do to shape the future of Los Angeles.
Organizations put their ideas online to fix problems in key categories like Education and Housing, and people across the city voted online for their favorites.
LA2050 received over 250 applications, and more than 70,000 votes. The organization in each category with the highest votes received a $100,000 prize from the Goldhirsh Foundation to implement their idea, plus two additional $100,000 grants were given to 'wildcard' submissions.
You can read more about each organization's winning proposal at the following links:
Arts & Cultural Vitality
Hammer Museum: Arts ReSTORE LA: Westwood. An urban renewal project
Education
826LA: 1,000 Mentors for Students
Environmental Quality
Health
Public Matters: Market Makeovers: NextGen Leaders
Housing
TRUST South L.A.: TRUST South LA 2050: Affordable Homes, Sustainable Neighborhoods
Income & Employment
ELACC & LURN: LA Street Vendors: A Better Economy through Low-Income Entrepreneurs
Public Safety
Homeboy Industries: Hope Has An Address
Social Connectedness
Wild Card #1
Mission Asset Fund: Building on LA's Social Capital
Wild Card #2
A Martinez visited the Goldhirsh Foundation office and spoke with Tara Roth McConaghy, Claire Hoffman and Ben Goldhirsh of the Goldhirsh Foundation to hear about the LA 2050 challenge and the winners.
US treasury sanctions Sinaloa drug cartel bosses
Yesterday, the Treasury Department announced its yearlong investigation had identified eight key players in Mexico's drug business. The government also introduced financial sanctions which it believes will weaken the powerful and violent Sinaloa cartel.
For more on this we're joined by Sylvia Longmire, author of "Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars."
Deported from the U.S., some in Mexico make homes underground
This week, Congress opens its first serious discussion on comprehensive immigration reform in six years. No matter how contentious, the debate offers a glimmer of hope for an estimated 11 million people living here illegally, eager to come away from the shadows.
But for those already deported, especially those who had established roots in the US, re-starting their lives can be hard. In some cases, life can be grim. For the California Report, Amy Isackson reports on how just over the border in Tijuana, some deportees are living underground.
Should preschoolers be learning on iPads?
Maybe it's not obvious from the number of kids playing with their parent's tablets and smart phones, but these kinds of devices have become every parents go-to object of choice when it comes to keeping kids entertained.
The early education arena is split over when its actually proper to introduce computers and digital devices to young children. Some preschools use laptops and tablets as a sales point to attract new parents, but, are iPad apps actually teaching children anything?
KPCC's Deepa Fernandes wanted to get to the bottom of whether these apps can be educational, so she went to the source.
Tribes working on plan to legalize online poker
Last week, Nevada became host to the first legal online poker site in the nation. Native American tribes in California are now considering following suit.
Representatives of some of the state's most successful tribes recently met privately to work on a plan to legalize online poker. For more on this we're joined by tribal gaming consultant Michael Lombardi.
Group says San Bernardino councilwoman avoiding recall process
San Bernardino's troubles are well-documented: bankruptcy, high foreclosure rates, rising crime. Now a few angry citizens are trying to get rid of the entire seven-member city council, as well as the mayor and the city attorney, with a recall campaign.
Six of the council members have been given legal notice, but the seventh — Councilwoman Wendy McCammack — has been accused of deliberately avoiding being served with recall papers by a city recall group.
With more is Ryan Hagen, a reporter with the San Bernardino Sun who has been covering the recall process.
What LA's booming coyote population means for the roadrunner
Now for the second in our series on wild animals in Los Angeles. First, Jed Kim examined how we’re dealing with a growing coyote population. Now, he looks at what that growth means for the age-old struggle between Coyotes and Roadrunners.
In the cartoons, it’s always the roadrunner that succeeds and the coyote that fails. In Los Angeles, it’s the opposite - at least when it comes to population. If you ever want to see a coyote, chances are all you need to do is drive around your neighborhood at night. To see a roadrunner, though, takes a bit of work.
Dan Cooper is an environmental biologist who does wildlife surveys around Los Angeles. He’s agreed to take me to try to find a roadrunner in the wild, so we’re driving to the Satwiwa National Recreation Area at the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s a pristine spot where he’s seen a roadrunner before.
[The roadrunner] used to be found all over LA, and you know, in recent decades, its range has sort of contracted to these very wild open areas,” said Cooper.
As we get out of the car, we’re joined by a park ranger Anthony Bevilacqua and Evan Lashly, a student who Dan is mentoring. Lashly is an environmental sciences major, and he’s doing his senior thesis project on species that have been designated as “of concern” by various federal and state agencies.
"I’m surveying for, trying to confirm the presence of rare species in the Santa Monica Mountains. One of the critters on my list is a roadrunner, in fact," said Lashly. “I’ve got about 25-ish species on the list, and so far I’ve found about five. You know, they’re rare, and so I’m looking for them for that reason. And so it’s not so easy to find a lot of these guys.”
Two things help when searching for roadrunners. First, knowing that they don’t actually go "meep meep." The second trick is to go with people who know where to look. Ranger Bevilacqua leads bird walks for the park, and it doesn’t take long before he makes a sighting.
It’s important to note, in this case, rare doesn’t mean endangered. It means rare to the area. The Greater Roadrunner is all over the desert., it’s just that they used to be around so much more in places like the Getty Center, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks; Places that used to have more open land. Roadrunners feed on reptiles and lizards, and they need wide open spaces to find them. As those kinds of space have dwindled, so has the roadrunner.
“It’s hard to put a number on how many were back there, but we just know now there are just a handful of pairs total in the Santa Monica Mountains," said Cooper. "I mean, probably 10 or fewer wouldn’t surprise me if it’s that low.”
Despite that low number, we have quite a bit of success, and soon I get to see a roadrunner with my own eyes. They really are fun to watch, and they do kind of resemble their cartoon counterpart, if maybe a little shorter. When they run, they stick their long tails straight out behind them and fishtail through turns like speedboats.
Then it’s like a roadrunner bonanza. We see five, maybe six different ones. Good numbers, but still, Ranger Bevilacqua expresses concern for the roadrunners. Habitat encroachment will continue, and then there are always predators. In fact, at one of the sightings, we see a coyote hanging out on an adjacent hillside.
Unlike the roadrunner, which has a pretty limited diet, coyotes will eat almost anything, which is why they're far outpacing roadrunners in the real world, even if they aren’t preying on them. Maybe that means more people will root for the roadrunner from now on.
Disney pulls out of bid to trademark 'Dia de los Muertos'
The backlash was hard and it was swift after word spread yesterday that the Walt Disney Company filed to trademark the term "Dia de los Muertos" for an upcoming film. Dia de los Muertos (or "Day of the Dead) is a centuries-old Mexican holiday that celebrates the lives and memories of loved ones who have passed away.
People cried out and petitions were signed to stop the studio from doing so, and by the end of the day, Disney pulled its filing.
Adolfo Flores with the LA Times joins the show with more.