LAPD union calling for easier access to Hep A vaccine, taking back the phrase "Allahu Akbar," Is Joshua Tree losing its meaning to the Instagram generation?
'Sense of resignation' in Las Vegas as city struggles to grasp another tragedy
Twenty-six people were killed in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday morning when a man with an assault rifle opened fire on a church.
On Monday, investigators and members of that congregation are asking a tragically familiar question: why?
About 1,300 miles northwest, the community of Las Vegas continues to struggle with the same question after a mass shooting there last month killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more.
How is Las Vegas processing the country's most recent gun violence tragedy?
Joe Schoenmann, host and senior producer at KPCC sister station KNPR in Las Vegas says the city is resigned:
It's kinda funny: people are mentioning it and talking about it, but there is a sense of resignation. There's sort of a mass shaking of the head and then sort of moving on. There's not a lot of hand-wringing here. It feels like this is the way it is and people just moved on.
Press the blue play button above to hear more reflections from Las Vegas.
LA police union calls for Hep A vaccines for most-at-risk officers
Last month, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency in California after hundreds of Hepatitis A cases popped up in San Diego's homeless community.
The outbreak has since spread to LA, although public health officials say the general population is not at risk. However, an LAPD officer has contracted Hep A. That's prompting the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the union that represents the officer, to call for more vaccinations.
Take Two's A Martinez spoke with Mark Cronin, a director with LAPPL. The union issued a letter to the LA County Board of Supervisors calling for vaccines to go to 1,600 LAPD officers most at-risk for Hep A exposure.
"Hepatitis A vaccinations are something that frankly the county and the city should have been all over long before the exposures in San Diego," Cronin said. "We shouldn't have had this officer come down with this."
In response to the LAPPL letter, two motions are now scheduled for consideration before the board of supervisors addressing the need for more vaccines.
"What I think this comes down to is the priority of giving this to public safety," Cronin added. "There have been approximately 17,800 vaccinations administered and distributed by the Department of Public Health, but the reality is that they didn't go to public safety."
To listen to the full interview, click on the media player above.
The hole in the ozone layer shrunk this year
Leaders from around the globe kicked off international climate talks today. The main subject is climate change and what countries can do to prevent it.
There are, of course, a lot of challenges. But there's also some good news. According to NASA, the hole in the earth's ozone layer is shrinking and it's getting smaller.
Paul A. Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, spoke to A Martinez to explain the ozone layer's role and why its shrinking is such good news.
"It was discovered in 1985 and it was getting bigger and bigger, and in the 1990's we saw that it had really jumped to very large levels. In fact, the area of North America is about 9.5 million square miles, the ozone hole was jumping up to over 12 million square miles in the early 2000's.
This year, we saw the maximum size it got to is about 7.6 million square miles. So not as big as North America like we've seen in the past. So, this is really positive news. You have more ozone and so you get less UV."
To hear more about the ozone layer and why it shrunk this year, click the blue play button above.
Joshua Tree locals are torn about the area's tourism "boom"
U2 may have put Joshua Tree on the map. And in more recent years, a lot of hip, young people have finally found what they're looking for in this small desert town just north of Palm Springs – a rustic outdoor life, a quirky artist community, Instagram-ready landscapes and more.
But a wave of new visitors has many long-time residents saying the dreaded "G" word. Gentrification.
"Locals are really torn about this influx," says Kristin Scharkey, editor of Desert magazine. "They are so excited to have people that want to experience the desert, they want to share this landscape. But there are some growing pains."
There are concerns about how visitors treat the fragile ecosystem of the desert and possibly damaging iconic Joshua trees for a photo, for example.
Scharkey talked with more long-time residents for her latest story, "Is the Instagram generation filtering Joshua Tree's true character?"
Listen to how more visitors have caused a boom that some residents like, while others are worried about. Click the audio player above.
On the Lot: A case against Harvey Weinstein
The news surrounding Hollywood's sexual harassment scandal isn't letting up. From a possible Harvey Weinstein arrest to more repercussions for other Hollywood men accused of misconduct, Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan has the latest on the fallout.
The biggest development? A case in New York that could lead to Weinstein's arrest. Keegan broke the story late last week:
"Last week, the actress Paz de La Huerta became the latest woman to tell a story about Harvey Weinstein. She's also spoken to the NYPD about the allegations. She described to me to alleged rapes in 2010 in New York...Weinstein of course through his spokeswoman has denied any allegations of nonconsensual encounters since this scandal has broken."
So, why is this case different from the other allegations?
"She alleges a forceful rape...This one would lead to the harshest charge. It's also the timing of her allegations. She says this happened in 2010, according to the NYPD detective I spoke with, it has to be after June 2006 for the DA to be able to prosecute rape in the first degree."
The case in New York is just one of three ongoing investigations against Weinstein. The other two are taking place in London and in Los Angeles.
To hear more about how Hollywood is dealing with the news and also catch up on the one bright spot in the entertainment world, click the blue play button above.
Reclaiming Allahu akbar
For Muslims all over the world, the Arabic phrase, "Allahu akbar," is very common, yet also special. It means "God is greater" or "God is greatest,” and it's said throughout the day for all different kinds of occasions.
But for many people, the phrase is known because it's also been uttered in connection with terrorism, like last week's truck attack in New York city.
is a playwright and a lawyer. He wrote an op-ed for the New York Times last week explaining his reverence for "Allahu akbar" and how he'd like its true meaning to be better understood.
I say “Allahu akbar” out loud more than 100 times a day. Yesterday, I uttered it several times during my late-evening Isha prayer. Earlier, during dinner, I said it with my mouth full after biting into my succulent halal chicken kebab. In the afternoon, I dropped it in a conference room at the State Department, where I’d been invited to address a packed room of government employees about the power of storytelling. Specifically, I expressed my continuing gratitude for the election of Barack Obama, whom, in a joking nod to the Islamophobic paranoia that surrounded him, I called “our first Muslim American president,” adding “Allahu akbar!”
People in the crowd laughed and applauded, the world continued to spin, no one had an aneurysm, and only a few people seemed to wonder with arched, Sarah Sanders-like eyebrows, “Wait, is he ...?”
When we spoke to him, he began by telling us what the phrase means for him personally.
...It's a very common form of expressing gratitude in the vernacular ... you know I joked, but I was very serious (in the article) that if I see a tasty meal I go, Allahu akbar. If my kids sleep before midnight, because they're insane, Allahu akbar ... it's such a benign common phrase that is used by Muslims all across the world, when you see it being hijacked by a tiny fraction of a percent for violent extremism ... and you see that as the only understanding, it really pains the heart.
But like many things dealing with religion and culture, a misunderstood phrase is only part of a larger issue ... which Ali believes might be a attributable to a lack of knowledge and understanding of what Islam is all about.
In the absence of truly understanding and really knowing about Islam and Muslims, the only narrative that has been shoveled to the overwhelming majority of the public is terrorism, violence and national security threat. So in the absence of 1.7 billion narratives that define Muslim experiences all around the world ... do you blame people? Of course not ...
But when we asked him what could be done to actually "reclaim" the phrase, he had this to say.
Muslims don't need to reclaim it, because we already know what it is, but the way to reclaim it in the Western space and the American space is you need more education and awareness. Muslims have been in American for 400 years, but studies show that 60 to 65% of Americans say they don't know a Muslim ... so you have to reach across the aisle, do a little work, other minorities know this as well. You know when you're not welcomed, you have to be extra welcoming, you have to do a little bit more work, but it's worth it.
Wajahat Ali is a playwright, lawyer and the author of the recent New York Times op-ed, "I Want ‘Allahu Akbar’ Back."
(click on the blue arrow to hear the entire interview)