On Thursday, Take Two discusses new actions planned this weekend by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, how astronauts in outer space are preparing to cast their vote for midterm elections, the music that is featured in the new Jimi Hendrix film, “JIMI: All is By My Side,” the week in California politics and more.
In Ferguson, residents seek dialogue, change ahead of planned protests
A fatal shooting involving an off-duty police officer and a black teenager in St. Louis, Missouri, prompted renewed protests in the area on Wednesday night.
The incident has rattled a community still shaken by the August shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in the nearby community of Ferguson.
To mark the two months that have passed since Brown's death, there are marches and other events planned in Ferguson this weekend.
"We're going to make sure that the police is held up to a standard," said David Whitt, a resident of Canfield Green Apartments in Ferguson. "And if they break the rules, we're going to make sure that we get the information to the proper people."
Whitt has helped launch a program after Brown's death to equip local residents with body cameras to monitor police interactions. So far, the group, called Canfield Watchmen, has given out some 150 body cameras to local residents and trained them on what their rights are, he said.
That's something that Paul Roesler, a professor of political science at St. Charles Community College, said could go a long way to improving relations.
"There are some positive things happening, and I think the cameras are also positive," said Roesler. "That is really going to be a way to make a difference, so that we all know what's going on."
Roesler hosted a panel on his college campus Wednesday to address the issues raised by the shooting of Brown and the police response to the protests that followed.
"I definitely feel that these kinds of talks are helpful, [it] brings the awareness level to another stage," said Whitt. "It's our mission, as well, to try to engage in conversations about this angst and where it's coming from and why it exists."
Residents are watching the ongoing investigation into Brown's death closely, said Whitt. The Jury is still deciding whether or not to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson.
Groups spread the word about IUDs to young women
The intrauterine device, or IUD, has come a long way in recent decades. While two kinds of IUDs were pulled from shelves in the 1970s and 1980s, the IUDs on the market today are safer, effective and cheap, experts say.
KPCC health reporter Rebecca Plevin says the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Planned Parenthood are recommending IUDs for young women and teens. But many within that age group have never heard of this form of birth control.
Read more: The new IUD: Not your mother's Dalkon Shield
An OB-GYN explains why she recommends IUDs
Some young women may embrace the use of the intrauterine device, but they are still not universally adored.
The increasing reliability and convenience of the IUD are some of the reasons its popularity is on the rise, according to Dr. Bryna Harwood, the director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at Cedars Sinai.
"We have busy lives, whether we have brand new babies, having a career, or starting school," she says. "But we don't time to attend to something every day."
Harwood adds that IUDs aren't right for every woman, and every experience with contraceptives is different.
"That's why we need lots of highly effective methods for women to find the one that works best for them in that time," she says. "But actually the majority of women who use an IUD have a very good experience with it."
What's the story you want to share about your experience with contraceptives? Which one worked best for you?
How Prop 47 would change some felonies to misdemeanors
If approved by state voters, Proposition 47 would reduce the classification of most "non-serious and nonviolent property and drug crimes" from a felony to a misdemeanor.
KPCC’s crime and safety reporter Erika Aguilar says Prop. 47 would downgrade six felony crimes, including shoplifting, grand theft, receiving stolen property, writing bad checks, forgery, and drug possession.
Read more: Prop 47 reduces drug and property crimes to misdemeanors
California to inspect railroad bridges for first time
For the very first time, the state of California is going to inspect thousands of railroad bridges.
This comes after a century of the state entrusting railroad companies to monitor bridge safety for themselves.
The state has had to sit back for so long because most of the 5,000 railroads in California are privately owned and are regulated by the federal government, according to reporter Tony Biziak, who covers the topic for the Sacramento Bee.
“The state’s in an interesting, awkward position,” Biziak said. “The railroads run across state lines, and the concept has always been that they don't want 50 states telling the railroads to do this and do that.”
The thinking of private railroads owners has also played a role.
“The railroads’ attitude is interesting. They generally say, ‘Leave us alone. We’re doing our thing. Trust us,’” Biziak said. “The thought has been the railroads are smart enough. They have a lot of financial stake in making sure their bridges are sturdy enough. They have their own inspection crews.”
But now that railroads are starting to run more crude oil trains, the state is concerned and wants to do more.
The state’s plan is to hire two inspectors who will first examine bridges believed to be most at-risk. Biziak says that criteria includes bridges over critical waterways, bridges that go through urban areas, near hospitals and population centers, or bridges that are expected to carry crude oil trains. The state's goal is to hit 30 of those bridges in the next year.
Voting from space: How astronauts cast their ballot
Midterm elections are less than a month away and voters across the U.S. are brushing up on propositions and deciding between candidates to support at the ballot box. It's a simple enough process, but it becomes a little more complicated if you're trying to exercise your democratic right from space.
National Journal technology correspondent Alex Brown looked into how astronauts can vote when they're not even on the planet. He says it all began in the 1980s, when the space program was largely focused on space shuttle launches, and missions would only last about a week or two. But once the space program made the shift to space stations, and therefore longer missions, the astronauts had no way of voting, even as an absentee.
The issue took center stage with Texas legislators in 1996, when John Blaha launched to the Mir Space Station and realized he was not going to be able to vote.
“So that kind of galvanized officials to say, ‘Hey, we need to make a process for astronauts to be able to vote,'” Brown said.
Texas legislators got to work and passed a bill that allows astronauts to vote by email. Texas took on the task because most astronauts are based out of Houston, Brown said.
Brown says some astronauts feel the intense need to vote partly out of their civic duty, and partly out of something deeper.
“It feels like a connection to home,” Brown said. “One astronaut compared it to perhaps military soldiers overseas getting to watch football games, and it’s just a little sense of home where you don’t feel like you’re so far flung and away from American society.”
The Wheel Thing: Teaching teens to avoid tragedy on the road
Last weekend, five teenagers were killed in a fiery crash in Irvine. It was a grim reminder that auto accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for young people.
Ironically, most schools no longer offer driver's education courses. Private firms help kids meet the requirements to pass their driver's license tests, but often do little to teach them techniques that help avoid accidents.
Car critic Susan Carpenter says some groups have stepped in to fill the gap. The Automobile Club of Southern California offers a variety of programs for teen drivers, and even suggests models of cars that are suitable for youngsters.
Some car companies are getting into the action, according to Carpenter. BMW and Mercedes have set up driving schools, and have special programs for teens. BMW has announced they're building a new facility outside Palm Springs that will feature a track and skid pad where drivers are confronted with real-life situations, and are taught techniques for avoiding disaster.
Carpenter is the auto and motorcycle critic for the Orange County Register, and appears on Take Two each Thursday in our regular feature, The Wheel Thing.
State of Affairs: Obama and Biden visit LA, the minimum wage, and the race for CA governor
In this week's State of Affairs, KPCC political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze take a look at President Barack Obama's latest visit to Southern California, the minimum wage and the race for governor.
It's a busy week for southern California. President Obama is in town today. Earlier this week Joe Biden was in town and he met with Mayor Eric Garcetti for a roundtable discussion on increasing the minimum wage. Meanwhile, some members of the city council introduced their own minimum wage proposal. How do the proposals differ?
Alice Walton: "Four members of the City Council introduced their own proposal. This is from council members Mike Bonin, Curren Price, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo. They want to do the mayor's plan, which is to increase wages to $13.25 an hour by 2017, but then they want to accelerate that and push the wage to $15.25 by 2019. That is a departure from the mayor's plan. The mayor has said he supports steadying that idea, bit he's not yet endorsing that $15 an hour figure."
Frank, you recently reported that the federal government has found L.A. County jail officials haven't done enough to help inmates who suffer from mental illness. There's talk of a federal consent decree, which would dictate how the county can operate its jails. How significant would this be?
Frank Stoltze: "We're at a critical moment for the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, and the jails, and maybe a critical moment for criminal justice in Los Angeles County...This particular consent decree relates specifically to folks who are mentally ill inside the jails -- about 3,500 of the 19,000 inmates -- and the federal government is saying you're not providing adequate care to these folks. So we're at this moment, and it's a huge deal."
Looking ahead to November, Gov. Jerry Brown isn't just ahead in the polls, he's ahead in fundraising, with more than 24 million dollars. He started spending that money this week on a couple of television commercials but they weren't ads for his reelection. What were they about?
Alice Walton: "Jerry Brown has taken some of his campaign funds to push Proposition 1, which is a $7.5 billion water bond, and Proposition 2, which is basically a rainy day fund for the state with the slogan, 'Save Water, Save Money.' So voters are seeing Jerry Brown on the air, they are seeing his face, and if their TV is on mute, maybe they think it's an ad for the governor's race. But he's taken some of his $24 million blanketing the airwaves to push the propositions. That's where he's putting his efforts, he's not really putting his efforts into his own re-election campaign."
Meanwhile, several polls suggest Republican Neel Kashkari will lose. Alice, you spoke with Kashkari, what might his campaign mean for the Republican Party here in California?
Alice Walton: "I talked to the vice chair of the [Republican] party, and she said they're tying to run more women, they're trying to run more diverse candidates, and really pick people who reflect their communities...Also they're trying to embrace candidates like Kashkari who don't represent all of the Republican party platforms. He supports abortion rights, he supports same-sex marriage, those are not issues typically embraced by the Republican party, but they want to win, they want to start seeing bodies in these offices. So if they can find a Republican who they can agree with on most of the issues, they're more likely now to endorse them, to support financially, to stump for them. Because they realize they really need to be reaching Californians."
Colorado pot retailers offering milder marijuana products for novices
Colorado's marijuana dispensaries are offering products specifically for the novice cannabis user who wants to try marijuana without regretting it.
Associated Press reporter Kristen Wyatt says part of the push has to do with the tourist population. Up to 90 percent of customers who visit resort-area shops are from out of state, according to Wyatt. So, retailers will start off those who are curious about cannabis with lighter products, like THC-infused soda.
"In addition to recommending some lighter things to folks, they want to have something on their shelves that says this is not for someone who smokes a bowl every day. This is for you, 50 year old woman, who hasn’t tried pot since college," she said.
Wyatt notes that even though the marijuana content is low in these products, they can have different effects on different people, and the shops want to avoid any bad outcomes.
"It's not so much that there have been serious incidents like a rash of deaths or overdoses, they always say there’s no fatal overdose of pot, but it is easy to overdose in terms of feeling sick...It's a common feeling they want to make sure that doesn't happen," she said.
Creating the music for 'Jimi: All Is By My Side'
The new feature film "Jimi: All Is By My Side," looks at a pivotal year in the life and career of Jimi Hendrix. But in the film, you won't hear songs like Purple Haze and Foxy Lady, because, reportedly, the film's creators weren't able to get rights to use his songs.
So, they had to improvise.
Alex Cohen is joined by Danny Bramson - the film's musical director and producer - to talk about how they chose what music to play in the movie.