Unemployment dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest rate since President Obama took office in January 2009.; San Bernardino may be bankrupt, but Riverside is still in good shape thanks to UC Riverside and scrappy entrepreneurs.; LAPD Chief Charlie Beck unveiled new rules redefining his department's stance on detaining illegal immigrants.; Congressional Democrats need 25 seats to retake the gavel from Republicans this November.; Governor Brown recently signed off on legislation that will enable classic car enthusiasts to buy brand new license plates with a retro look.; "Precious" director Lee Daniels joins the show to discus his latest work, "The Paperboy."; The presidential elections are this Sunday in Venezuela, what does it mean for Hugo Chavez?; Ruxandra Guidi talks to some Venezuelan-Americans about who they're voting for.; Entertainment Weekly writer Anthony Breznican explains how Tim Burton's childhood home of Burbank inspired his work.; Finally, our Weekend Alibi and the Week In Review.
US unemployment rate drops to 7.8 percent
This morning's job numbers were good news for the economy.
Unemployment dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest rate since President Obama took office in January 2009. It's an improvement but economic recovery is still slow, and California's economy is still struggling to keep pace with the recovery.
We talk with KPCC's Matt DeBord for more.
Riverside hotrod entrepreneurs adapt to survive economic slump
Despite tough economic times, some entrepreneurs are thriving in some Southern California cities, including Riverside, where a custom auto body business is banking profits.
The recession has shaken lots of Inland Empire cities. San Bernardino just filed for bankruptcy; a few newly incorporated cities may actually dissolve.
The picture is a bit sunnier in Riverside. Unemployment is still high, but the city is holding its own thanks to a stable housing market and big employers like UC Riverside.
It is also home to scrappy young entrepreneurs like Isaac Gallardo who are motoring on in hard times.
On this day, Gallardo watches as a worker in his auto body shop gingerly strips the paint from a car door in preparation for a custom $4,000 cherry-red paint job.
“These are fun to do but there’s only a little market of people that are willing to pay what it takes to do something like that,” said Gallardo.
Gallardo owns Inland Empire Auto Body and Paint in Riverside. The business specializes in custom detail and body work, like transforming grandpa’s sedan into a pavement-grinding low rider. Or, in this case, returning a beat-up 1971 Chevy Camaro to its original glory.
That’s what Gallardo’s crew did for a recent appearance on the Speed network reality show “Car Warriors.” Inland Empire Auto edged out a competing garage from Orange County.
The black and orange ’71 Camaro is on display in the Inland Empire Auto garage. It’s dazzling. But on this day, it won’t start. Gallardo sits the behind the wheel pumping the accelerator as the engine wheezes away. He is, after all, a body work guy not an engine guy.
The TV appearance earned Gallardo high-fives from customers - but not a lot of new business. The Inland Empire’s famed hotrod culture is as fickle as the engine in that prize-winning Camaro.
“In 2006, I mean people still had money to do a lot of the customs so that was bringing us some money,” recalled Gallardo.
“But when everything just hit, we realized people just can’t afford to do a paint job or put new rims on. So we did a couple insurance jobs - and we're like, ‘Well, these people pay,’” said Gallardo.
So he went after collision jobs. Wreck your front end in a fender bender? Inland Empire Auto will pound out the dents.
“So that’s when we started seeing bigger tickets. OK, it’s a $3,000 job instead of $500 to do a bumper or airbrush on a tailgate,” said Gallardo.
There are always going to be people that get into accidents, said Lucy, Gallardo’s wife.
Isaac Gallardo runs the garage; Lucy runs the numbers. The young, 20-something couple opened the shop six years ago. Soon after, the economy cratered, people stopped spending – and banks stopped lending.
A lot of those banks still won’t lend says Michael Stull, no matter where you’re trying to start up a business. Stull directs Cal State, San Bernardino’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship.
“But it’s only exacerbated out here because historically we haven’t had as robust an infrastructure of ‘angel investing’ and venture capital. I think that’s kind of real bad combination for local companies,” said Stull.
Lucy Gallardo said to open the garage in 2006, she and Isaac threw in everything they had: about $5,000.
“And we’re people of faith, so we just knew that no matter what if you work hard, we’re just gonna have to do whatever we have to do continue to keep the doors open,” she said.
But it’s a constant hustle.
The Gallardos drum up business at community events and through social networking. They’ve managed to turn a profit and expand the shop.
Michael Stull says the Gallardos embody the entrepreneurial spirit that can transform the Inland Empire into an economic hotrod.
“I need a job; I’ll replace that job by becoming a business owner. I don’t have a job,” said Stull. “I may as well cash in the retirement and take the plunge and go for it.”
Isaac Gallardo comes from a family of risk takers. His parents crossed into the U.S. illegally more than 20 years ago with their 8-year-old son in tow.
“Did the whole thing, through (Tijuana), jumped over the border and everything and I still remember that very clearly,” he recalled.
Gallardo said the experience instilled a drive that’s kept his Riverside garage humming.
“My mom was big on education but their work ethic was instilled in me as well,” said Gallardo. “They told me to go to school, but I see how hard they worked - so the combination of both is what pushes through our business.”
And it’s what sustains Gallardo’s auto body shop in hard times when a lot of people would rather just live with the dents.
LAPD Chief Beck's unveils new rules for officers' handling of illegal immigrants
The Los Angeles Police Department is diving right into the national immigration debate.
Chief Charlie Beck has unveiled new rules redefining his department's stance on detaining illegal immigrants. LAPD officers will no longer turn illegal immigrants arrested for minor crimes over to federal authorities for deportation.
He hopes to have the rules in place by the start of the new year.
The Immigration Customs Enforcement declined to give an interview but did release a statement:
LAPD Chief Proposes Changes to Handling ICE Detentions
Guest:
Niels Frenzen, Clinical Professor of Law Director of Immigration Clinic USC Gould School of Law.
Outside money pouring in to California's congressional races
Congressional Democrats need 25 seats to retake the gavel from Republicans this November.
It's a tall order and an expensive one. Both parties consider California a battleground for house races, and buckets of campaign cash are being dumped into the Golden State.
As part of The California Report's Election 2012 coverage, reporter Tara Siler takes a look at four tough contests in and around Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley.
Vintage California license plates get green light from Governor Brown
Governor Brown recently signed off on legislation that will enable classic car enthusiasts to buy brand new license plates with a retro look.
For $50, car owners can get their hands on retro black-and-yellow license plates, which were originally used in California during the '50s and '60s, or a yellow-on-blue plate that adorned many a Pinto in the '70s.
"California black plates are unusual because when a car traded hands in the day you normally got a brand new plate, you didn't just get a new sticker to put on it, you got a whole new license plate," said Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum. "The more a car changed hands the more likely it was to not make it through with its original black and yellow plate."
With the passing of AB 1658, lawmakers hope to appeal to vintage car collectors to rake in a bit of extra cash to California's economy. However, to classic car enthusiasts, the program is an affront to good taste.
"People like the original black and yellow plate because it means the car was owned by fairly few people, it may be even an original owner car, so that usually says something, you can also advertise it as an original black plate California car," said Kendall. "An original black plate car can add value, that's why people are so anxious about having them and a little bit hesitant about what's coming around the corner."
The Department of Motor Vehicles will only begin producing the retro designs if its receives 7,500 or more applications requesting the plates. Interested parties will be able to order the plates beginning in January 2013.
Director Lee Daniels on his Southern crime thriller 'The Paperboy'
Film Director Lee Daniels is best known for his 2009 Oscar-winning drama "Precious." The film blasted black cinema story-telling conventions, and took viewers inside the raw and violent reality of a 350-pound illiterate teenage girl.
His follow-up project is a new film out today called "The Paperboy," a Southern-noir crime story set in 1969 South Florida.
Nicole Kidman plays a death row groupie who recruits a reporter played by Matthew McCounaghey to help her spring an alleged killer from behind bars.
That character is played by an unusually creepy John Cusack.
Zac Efron is also in the film lusting after Kidman's character Charlotte.
A Martinez talks to Daniels about what drew him to this film after "Precious."
Weekend Alibi: Grand Park, Mole fest and Horrible Movie Night
Meghan McCarty is back with your Weekend Alibi, a roundup of the best entertainments around L.A.
This week, while you're waiting for your hipster facial hair to grow in for Ciclavia, check out the hair-raising dance moves of the "vertical" aerial dance troupe that will perform suspended from City Hall for the grand opening of Grand Park on Bunker Hill. All four blocks of the new park will finally be open to the public on Saturday and the city is celebrating with a giant block party.
Then on Sunday, you can taste the rainbow of moles at the Feria de los Moles event at Olvera Street. More than a dozen restaurants will be cooking up 20 different types of mole at this tribute to the deeply-spiced and complex sauce from the Oaxacan state of Mexico.
And if you enjoy the comedy of a truly bad movie, you'll want to make your way to Meltdown Comics in Hollywood Friday night, where the folks at Nerdist will be celebrating the third birthday of Horrible Movie Night. The mystery flick of the night is assured to hit new lows of horribleness and will be accompanied by comedic commentary.
Grand Park Block Party
Where: Grand Park, Grand Avenue, downtown L.A.
When: Saturday Oct. 6 from 4 pm - 6 pm
Cost: Free
Website
Feria de los Moles
Where: Olvera Street, downtown L.A.
When: Sunday Oct. 7 from 10 am - 7 pm
Website
Nerdmelt Horrible Movie Night
Where: Nerdmelt Showroom at Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood
When: Friday Oct. 5, doors at 8:50, start at 9 pm
Cost: $8 advance/$10 at door
Website
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez faces tough competition in Sunday's election
Venezuelans head to to the polls this Sunday in a presidential election that could fundamentally alter their political future.
Hugo Chavez has been president since 1999 — he's easily won three consecutive elections. But now, his fate is less certain as he squares off against Henrique Capriles Radonski, a conservative businessman.
Venezuela's poor, who happen to be the majority of the population, revere Chavez, but the country's middle and upper classes can't stand his socialist stance.
Guest:
Rory Carroll, correspondent for the Guardian newspaper
LA-based Venezuelans weigh in on possibility of Hugo Chavez's reelection
Every few weeks, Valentina and Francisco Rivero like visiting a joint in Santa Monica to breakfast on arepas — traditional Venezuelan corn patties filled with ham and cheese, black beans, or pulled pork.
Café Bolivar is a Venezuelan expat hangout owned by another Venezuelan immigrant, a friend of the Riveros who has lived in the States for more than 25 years. The Riveros have been here for 15. They’re a middle class couple in pursuit of financial stability and fulfilling careers. But they’re still very plugged in to events their native country — especially the presidential elections every six years.
“Even though you left your country, voting is the very least you can do, because you still have family members and friends back home," says Valentina, explaining her motivation to vote. "And even if you didn’t have them, it’s your duty. You have the right to, and you should want to contribute in that way.”
“I think it really depends on the hopes and plans you had before you migrated here," adds Francisco. "My thinking is, while I stay in the US to fulfill my personal dreams, I want Venezuela to be in the best shape, so I can return and continue my life there someday.”
On Sunday, the couple and their baby will drive six hours north to the nearest Venezuelan consulate, in San Francisco, so they can cast their votes. It’s a small price to pay, they say, to participate in this election.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who first came to power in 1998, faces his toughest challenge in 14 years. He’s established populist social reforms, won numerous referendums and rewritten the constitution so he could extend his rule. But observers say Chavez could lose his job this time to the only opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles Radonski.
The 58-year-old president has been omnipresent on state-sponsored TV and at political rallies until recently, when doctors diagnosed and treated him for cancer. Capriles Radonski is 40. He’s a pro-business lawyer with a charismatic style that isn’t too different from the incumbent’s.
To some Venezuelans in this country, Capriles Radonski represents the change they’ve desperately wanted for years.
“I’m a businessman, you know? I think the president and his current government have had the ideal conditions to bring about change; they’ve had more money than previous governments, too," says Antonio Gallardo. "And in the past 14 years, I think they’ve done a poor job managing those resources.”
Gallardo arrived in the United States nineteen years ago to earn a second master’s degree. He’s become a successful information technology and foundation executive. He says that despite Chavez’s popularity among working class Venezuelans, the president hasn’t delivered on his promises in two important ways.
“Poverty—there have been no real improvements on that front," he explains. "Chavez’s idea is that equality means we’re all poor, and I just don’t buy that. And high crime — I find it hard to believe that every time I go back to Venezuela, it gets much worse — I’m constantly fearing for my safety.”
Gallardo says he has high hopes for a possible Capriles Radonski win - so much so that he’ll vote from abroad for the first time since Chavez became president. Like the Riveros, Gallardo will drive to San Francisco this weekend, and will field regular updates about the election from his relatives in Venezuela.
“In the past five to ten years, I’ve been thinking that, perhaps, the way I could help Venezuela is by going into politics," he says. "I thought that maybe by running for some office, I’d be able to apply all the lessons I’ve learned and witnessed in my years in business and philanthropic work here. But I don’t see the chances of doing this under the current government.”
But not every eligible Venezuelan adult here will be able to vote. The deadline for absentee voter registration came and went last May without much notice to expats. Filmmaker Antonio Scarpetti missed his opportunity to register.
Scarpetti has lived in the United States for 23 years. On his last annual trip to Venezuela, he decided to produce a TV pilot about the lives and traditions of working-class and farming people, the kind who typically support Chavez. But in this series, he says, he’s chosen to minimize talk about politics.
“I think right now, people need to see these things, because it’s the pureness, it’s the root, the primitive side of us," he says, in describing the focus of his series. "And I think with all this craziness about elections and hating this side, or the other side—I say, we are these people: we all are—it doesn’t matter how much money you have in your pocket.”
Scarpetti says he hopes to return to Venezuela next year for more filming. Regardless of Sunday’s election results, his main concern is that the voting process in that country will be peaceful for Hugo Chavez supporters and opponents.
How sunny Burbank shaped Tim Burton's dark, twisted creations
Tim Burton is known for his goth aesthetic, a somewhat dark and twisted view of the world; Think films like "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
You can imagine him as a kid growing up in some remote town, far off the beaten path, or in the desolate abandoned neighborhoods of Detroit maybe?
But Burton grew up right here in sunny Southern California, in Burbank to be exact.
Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican has been looking into Tim Burton's life in Burbank and how it affected the filmmaker.
Here's Tim Burton in an interview he did with KPCC last year about how growing up in Burbank, with its lack of seasonal changes made him obsess over seasonal holidays like Halloween and Christmas:
RELATED: Listen to AirTalk's interview with Tim Burton from May of last year.
Friday Flashback: Jobs report, gas prices, and the fate of Big Bird
It's the end of the week, the end of the show...so it's time for our Friday Flashback.
Joining us to review the week's top news is Bill Schneider, fellow at Third Way, a public policy think tank in Washington.
Also, joining us is comedian Alonzo Bodden