Today on the show, we'll start with a discussion about Obama's fundraising visit to L.A. Then, Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL Draft, awaits a new football home. Plus, can a social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls?, Jet magazine enters an all-digital era, we discuss your suggestions for LA's tagline, plus much more.
Obama takes fundraising trip to Silicon Valley
Today is day two of President Obama's stay in California.
After spending the day yesterday in the southern part of the state, he's now off to Silicon Valley. Over the past several years, the tech haven has become a key stop on the president's fundraising path.
For more on today's visit and the nexus between politics and high-tech, is Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle.
LA schools' new parent advisory group grapples with $6.8 billion budget
It's budget season at school districts across California and this year, parents are getting more of a voice than usual.
New state law requires districts to get meaningful parent input before passing next year's spending plans. That's no small task for Los Angeles Unified, a district of 650,000 kids, and a budget of nearly $7 billion.
KPCC's Annie Gilbertson takes us to the district's newly-created parent committee.
Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL Draft, awaits a new football home
The 2014 NFL Draft starts tonight, where Michael Sam, the first openly gay draft prospect will wait to hear his name over the three-day process. The defensive end from the University of Missouri came out as gay in February, a move some felt was risky to his future in football.
Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of OutSports.com joins us to discuss the impact of Sam becoming the first openly gay NFL player.
What's the health of the economy in your own neighborhood?
The economy may be recovering, but it may be hard to tell depending on where you live.
In a place like Silicon Beach, jobs are on the rise because of the increased number of tech companies calling it home. But meanwhile people in Torrance are feeling dismayed that Toyota announced it will be moving thousands of jobs to Texas.
Every few months, Take Two examines the health of the economy. This time, we're zeroing in on the micro-economies of several different neighborhoods throughout Southern California.
Guests:
Christopher Thornberg, principal with Beacon Economics.
Raphael Bostic, professor of public policy at USC.
Delia Fernandez, president of Fernandez Financial Advisory in Los Alamitos.
Can a social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls?
It's been almost a month since more than 270 schoolgirls in Nigeria were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and the girls are still missing.
The story has sparked protests and social media campaigns in Nigeria and around the world to draw attention to the issue. The twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has gone viral.
It's been used by Kerry Washington, Lena Dunham, Hillary Clinton, and now Michelle Obama.
Here in Los Angeles, the story of these Nigerian girls hit particularly hard with Ramaa Mosley, a documentary filmmaker.
She created a "Bring Back Our Girls" Facebook page to share ideas about how people can take action and joins us to talk about the response she's received.
New Mexico towns struggle to catch up with oil boom
New Mexico is the nation's 6th largest oil producer. The industry is creating thousands of jobs in the southeast corner of the state, but all that activity is straining basic services. Housing is limited, classrooms are crowded and roads are more dangerous.
In the second of a three-part Fronteras Desk series, Mónica Ortiz Uribe tells us how cities are struggling to catch up.
RELATED: Hear part one of this series
New Mexico is the nation’s sixth-largest oil producer. The industry is creating thousands of jobs in the southeast corner of the state.
But all that activity is straining basic services. Housing is limited, classrooms are crowded and roads are more dangerous. Now cities are struggling to catch up.
At Puckett Elementary School in Carlsbad, N.M., first grade students sing along with their teacher. The class is held inside a portable building. Schools in Carlsbad are running out of space.
Superintendent Gary Perkowski said in the last two years the district has enrolled 200 new students.
"All of a sudden it's going up and going up really quickly and very drastically," Perkowski said.
Carlsbad is the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico's top oil producer. It's located above the Permian Basin, which is rich with fossil fuels. High oil prices have driven dozens of new companies here, which is attracting a larger workforce. Overpopulation at the schools is just one problem.
"Last year we lost ten teachers that came to Carlsbad, signed contracts, and could not find housing," Perkowski said.
Carlsbad's population of some 27,000 people is growing twice as fast as the rest of the state. Teachers are competing with other newcomers for a place to live.
"We had one guy that was trying to live with his family in a motel at a hundred and something dollars a night and that didn't last long," Perkowski said.
Because of the high demand, major hotel chains in Carlsbad charge rates comparable to New York City.
At a popular Mexican restaurant, Mayor Dale Janway digs into a plate of green enchiladas. He had just come from the oil fields himself, where he works as a safety consultant.
"This is one of the hot spots in the country right now and there are a lot of challenges," he said.
Janway said developers can't build fast enough. Apartments under construction have waiting lists. Workers live in outlying RV parks.
But it's not just the oil industry. Eddy County is a major producer of potash, a component in fertilizer. A new mine should start construction this year. The U.S. Department of Energy also runs the country's only permanent nuclear waste facility here.
"Any time you have growth like we do you have more urgency calls, more fire calls, more police problems," Janway said.
Yet another issue is the traffic. It's especially busy along the 70 miles of road that separate Carlsbad from the neighboring town of Hobbs. Trucks hauling long cylinder tanks and heavy machinery are non-stop on weekday mornings.
Ten people have died in traffic accidents this year, a high figure in mostly rural Eddy County. In April, a woman missed a stop sign and was T-boned by a semi-truck. She and her 3-year-old granddaughter were killed.
Road safety has become a serious concern for many in southeast New Mexico. Carlsbad native Andrew Perez lost his brother in an accident two years ago.
"My brother worked for an oil field company, driving trucks and he worked very hard, long hours, didn't get sleep and ended up crashing his truck," Perez said.
His brother left a job in a corrections facility to become a trucker, Perez said. Before that he was Marine who served in Iraq.
"The day he died was the day that he found out he was going to be a father," he said.
An investigation by the Associated Press this year found that in some oil-rich states traffic fatalities have quadrupled in the past decade. In southeast New Mexico, a coalition has formed a task force to address roadside deaths. A state representative is also pushing legislation that would fund highway improvements in oil-producing counties.
Fight against Mexican drug cartel has deep roots in California
In Mexico, the federal government has given groups of armed civilians until this weekend to demobilize or join a new rural defense force. The militias have been fighting a powerful drug cartel and their efforts resonate deeply with hundreds of thousands of people in California, who have roots in the western Mexican state.
It's a story we've been following closely on this program. Last month, we looked at ties between families in Los Angeles and Michoacan.
For the California Report, Michael Montgomery traveled to the region to see how the situation is playing out on both sides of the border.
State Of Affairs: Obama in LA, NAACP, LADWP news and more
It's Thursday and that means it's time for State of Affairs, our weekly roundup of politics and government news in the golden state. For that we're joined by KPCC's political reporter Frank Stoltze and politics editor Oscar Garza.
Let's start with the commander in chief, President Obama. He was in Los Angeles yesterday. What brings him to our fair town?
As we all know, last week the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP came under fire for their connection to disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Now another chapter is facing criticism, this one in Riverside, and it's tied to the somewhat bizarre re-election campaign of Riverside District Attorney Paul Zellerbach.
The Department of Water and Power is City Hall's favorite whipping boy. As we've talked about in past weeks, the DWP's union and Controller Ron Galperin are locked in a court fight over financial documents that show how public money from the utility was spent by two nonprofits. What happened this week in that battle?
Members of the 2020 Commission appeared before the Los Angeles City Council this week to talk about their report on the city's future. One of the panel's key recommendations is moving municipal elections so they sync up with state and federal races. But council members are not embracing that idea. Why?
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted this week to draw up plans for new jails. The proposal would close Men's Central Jail and could ultimately lead to the costliest capital project in the county's history.
This week, we looked at Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers, who seemed to get a thumbs up from former Sheriff Lee Baca in his resignation speech. What are the chances voters will support a Sheriff's Department insider?
The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that California's mock up of licenses for undocumented immigrants looks too much like a typical driver's license. Frank, what does this mean Californians who were hoping to get one of these cards in 2015?
Sacramento lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment that would withhold the pay and benefits of legislators who are suspended from office. Isn't this a no-brainer?
A new report from the state's Legislative Analyst's Office finds California has $340 billion in long-term costs - and most are not being addressed by state leaders. What are legislators doing about addressing growing pension costs?
Angelenos and tourists alike often complain about the lack of public transit options to LAX. This week, the Board of Airport Commissioners considered two plans build a people mover at the airport. First, what is a people mover and what could this mean for travelers who want to take a rail line to LAX?
Marijuana Banking: Secretive but poised to grow
A cool billion dollars. Based on sales tax receipts, that's how much revenue the California medical marijuana industry generates each year. But even though their businesses are legit in California, owners of pot dispensaries often have trouble finding a bank to take their money.
So some have to get creative.
Amy Radil of public station KUOW in Seattle, where recreational pot is now legal, has this report on the tricky dance between pot entrepreneurs and banks.
Talk to Take Two: Your suggestions for LA's tagline
The Guardian recently ranked L.A. as the number one city in the world when it comes to brand. On Wednesday, we talked with a guy who crunched the data behind this ranking. At the end, we pointed out that though the City of Angels might generate a lot of buzz, we are missing what most well-branded products have — a tagline.
So we reached out to the people who really know this city for some suggestions. You! KPCC listeners.
Take Two digital producer Michelle Lanz runs through some of the suggestions.
So why do you think L.A. needs a tagline?
If we're going to keep our No. 1 spot, we have to compete with city brands like Las Vegas, who have the "What happens here, stays here" tagline. Plus, our state has a tagline: California: Find Yourself Here... if you remember those California tourism commercials from a few years ago. Los Angeles is a great enough city that we really deserve our own.
We got a LOT of submissions from listeners. ... Let's talk about some of the best ones.
Sure! People seemed to have a lot of fun with this idea. Some taglines focused on L.A.'s place as the entertainment capital, of course. For example:
- Maxine Sonnenburg: Where the Stars watch over the Stars.
- Michael Clementine-Everest Dominguez: Los Angeles: whatever your dreams, they're just 20 minutes away.
- Cullen Davis LA: We'll show you the business!
But there weren't as many that focused on our great weather, which was surprising. When we talked to the branding guy Ian Stephens about the Guardian list yesterday, he said L.A.'s weather really pushed it ahead of other cities like New York. We did get one though:
- Julie Kornblum: Los Angeles: Looks like another perfect day!
I assume there were plenty that mentioned LA's traffic issues. ... Not that we'd want that in our tagline.
Probably not. But, yes, several people couldn't help but get some frustration out it seemed. For instance:
- Mariana Bell: L.A. Definitely Rent a Car!
- Kenneth Simon: Los Angeles: We have everything. You just can't get to any of it.
- Sarah Kreuzkamp Hurst: Heaven with traffic
Any others you though were worth a mention?
KPCC producer Leo Duran's entry was "Los Angeles: We should totally hang out soon!" Which is kind of funny. But I think my favorite is from Jill Susanne Harris: "Los Angeles: there's a reason the angels call it home!"
Do you have a tagline suggestion? Post it in the comments below.
State prison overcrowding relief efforts create new issues for counties
Governor Jerry Brown's so-called realignment plan was designed to respond to a federal court order to relieve overcrowding in state prison. But that plan is creating a new set of issues, including overcrowding in county jails, which are already in a state of duress.
That is the finding of a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. For more on this we're joined by Paige St. John of the Los Angeles Times.
Jet magazine enters an all-digital era
This week the publishers behind Jet magazine, announced an end to the print version. \
The magazine, which first hit newsstands at the dawn of the civil rights movement, will continue only as a digital magazine app.
It was created in 1951 by Johnson Publishing, and was a prominent newsweekly digest focused on African-Americans. It traced many prominent issues of the day, the murder of Emmet Till, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the election of President Barack Obama.
We'll talk with NPR's Eric Deggans about the magazine's legacy and if this is the future for many other print publications.