Charter-backed candidates win school board seats, Measure C passes adding civilians to police disciplinary panels, designers choosing SoCal for their fashion shows.
Charter school backed candidates likely take majority on LAUSD school board
In a major victory for supporters of charter schools, LA school board president Steve Zimmer was defeated by his challenger Nick Melvoin who was backed by charter school interests.
And in the San Fernando Valley, the charter school-backed candidate Kelly Gonez is leading against teachers union supported Imelda Padilla.
To help understand what this means for the nation's second largest school district, Take Two's A Martinez spoke with KPCC education reporter Kyle Stokes.
To hear the full interview with Kyle Stokes, click on the blue Media Player above.
Measure C passes, bringing biggest changes to police disciplinary practices since 1992
L.A. voters approved creating a new board, made up of civilians, which will review misconduct by police.
It's called Measure C, and it gives police the choice of facing a review that includes other officers, or this new, all-civilian panel. Here's how KPCC's Frank Stoltze described it on our Monday program:
"Measure C is the police union's effort to create an option of all civilian discipline boards that officers can go to instead of these mixed panels with two command staff and one civilian. In the hopes of getting civilians that might be, more lenient."
Apparently, that sounded good to voters, but for many who've worked to reform police discipline, they see it as a step backward.
Peter Bibring is the senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. He's come out strong against the measure since day one. He spoke to A Martinez about the implications of Measure C.
To hear the listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Sports Roundup: the Lakers and the NBA Draft
Last night was the NBA Draft Lottery, when teams find out what place they'll be selecting in the upcoming draft.
And the two most successful teams in history will get the top two picks with the Boston Celtics getting the first pick, followed by the LA Lakers at number two.
But what does that mean for the team going forward? Who will they pick, and can that player make an immediate impact on the team?
A Martinez talks about that and a lot more with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky.
Beth Mowins to call the NFL's Monday Night Football
The start of the NFL season is still months away, but this week the league made news, but not about anything that will happen on the field.
In week 2 of the NFL season, a woman will be the play-by-play announcer for a nationally televised football game. It's the first time that a woman has ever done that.
Beth Mowins, a veteran sports reporter - will be the first woman to call a nationally televised NFL game when the Los Angeles Chargers go up against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.
The only other time a woman has done this job was more than thirty years ago when reporter Gayle Sierens called a local broadcast of an NFL game in 1987.
For more on Mowins and what it means, we talked to Christine Brennan, an award-winning national sports columnist for USA Today.
The Styled Side: more fashion runways are landing in LA
"Go west, young man!"
Americans might have heard that phrase in the 19th century as a call to move to California, but it turns out 21st century fashion designers are taking that advice right now, too.
Some are foregoing the runways of New York and Paris to show in SoCal.
"Designers like Tommy Hilfiger and Rachel Zoe skipped NY Fashion Week altogether!" says Michelle Dalton Tyree from Fashion Trends Daily.
Hilfiger made a splash at the Santa Monica Pier a few months ago with a show that included fire dancers and hula hoopers for over 3,000 guests.
Then last week, French label Dior made its L.A. runway debut with a show in the wilds of Calabasas surrounded by hot air balloons and festival-ready tents.
It's unusual since fashion week shows take place in cities like London, New York and Milan by tradition, not L.A.
They also happen in September and February, six months before the clothes wind up in stores, and in front of an audience mostly filled with the press and buyers for stores.
"But designers are hosting shows in L.A. specifically to get in front of customers," says Tyree.
Rebecca Minkoff, for example, had her first L.A. runway show at The Grove because California has one of the most dense fashion customer populations in the country.
It was designed to be a “See now, buy now,” event – meaning you could see a piece on the runway and then buy it right afterwards, no six month waiting period.
This trend of showing in L.A. picked up steam in 2012 when YSL designer Hedi Slimane shook up the fashion world by not only moving here but headquartering his design studio out of LA.
Then a couple of years ago, Tom Ford showed here right before the Oscars.
"It created a style snowball effect with other big names following their lead," says Tyree. "Showing outside the traditional fashion week calendar could ultimately translate to more eyeballs and sales, especially with designers who make the clothes available for purchase immediately."