How is Wall Street reacting to the government shutdown?; LA Mayor Eric Garcetti looks back at his first 100 days in office; Shutdown puts scientists' Antarctica research on ice; Downtown LA's Grand Park celebrates its 1st anniversary; Nobel Prize in Literature goes to Canadian writer Alice Munro, plus much more.
How is Wall Street reacting to the government shutdown?
The Treasury Department says that a week from today, the country will no longer have enough money to pay its bills unless Congress raises the limit on borrowing. House Republicans met this morning to discuss possible solutions.
Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, was also on Capitol Hill this morning. He said failure to raise the debt ceiling could cause a recession worse than the one triggered by the financial crisis of 2008. Some Republican critics aren't buying it. They think the government could simply prioritize payments to prevent a financial melt-down.
Wall Street executives have also been warning of catastrophe if the U.S. defaults on its debt, but the stock market doesn't seem to reflect that. D.C.-based Marketplace reporter David Gura joins the show to explain why.
Shutdown puts scientists' Antarctica research on ice
The effects of the U.S. government shutdown have now reached the most remote outpost in the world. This week, the National Science Foundation announced it's shutting down its science program in Antarctica.
Only a skeleton crew will be allowed to stay, to maintain the facilities there. This as the spring research season has just begun. Hundreds of scientists, studying everything from penguins to climate change, are now asking themselves, what's next?
One of those scientists is Dawn Sumner, geology professor at UC Davis. She joins the show to talk about her work, and what the shutdown means for her team.
Ask Emily On Take Two: Covered California tax credits and more
The state's health insurance exchange, Covered California, is now a little more than a week old. As folks are enrolling, they find themselves with a lot of questions.
For answers to some of these questions we turn to Emily Bazar, senior writer for the California Healthcare Foundation Center for Health Reporting, and her regular segment, Ask Emily.
RELATED: Click here to check whether your doctor is covered under the new Covered California health plans
Downtown LA's Grand Park celebrates its 1st anniversary
Happy Birthday, Grand Park! One year ago today, the 12-acre public space fully opened in Downtown LA. The goal was to create an attraction in the heart of the city. KPCC's Hayley Fox reports it's still a work in progress.
Richard Montoya's play 'Water & Power' gets the feature film treatment
Playwright Richard Montoya has been writing about what he describes as the Chicano experience in California with works like "The River," "Chavez Ravine" and "Water & Power."
In 2006, "Water & Power" won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for outstanding new play. It's about two brothers in Los Angeles who grow up into positions of authority in the city -- one a cop and the other a politician.
Now Montoya has turned it into a film of the same name. It isn't out in theaters yet but it will debut this Saturday night at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.
Montoya joined us in the studio to talk about his new project.
RELATED: Click here for screening and ticket information
State of Affairs: John Perez, Gov. Brown, LA Convention Center and more
It's Thursday and that means it's time for State of Affairs, our look at politics and government throughout California. To help us with that we're joined in studio now by KPCC political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze.
First up, John Perez announced he's running for California State Controller yesterday. Who John Perez is and why is this a big deal?
In other news in Sacramento this week, Governor Brown has been busy signing and vetoing more bills.
Looks like the city of Los Angeles is finally throwing in the towel on its convention center. It decided this week to hand over operation of the long troubled center to AEG, one of the largest entertainment venue operators in the world, and the company that owns Staples Center. What's the backstory here?
A KPCC investigation this week revealed how the City of L.A. pays out just ten percent of the claims people make when their cars are damaged by potholes. What's the story here, and what's been the reaction from city hall?
There's been another development in the growing scrutiny of water companies in Southeast Los Angeles County. Governor Brown has signed legislation that forces the three private water companies in the small city of Maywood to comply with open meeting, public records, and budget requirements. Why is this important?
The federal government shutdown is now in its second week. Are there any effects at City Hall?
Initiative seeking to limit abortions in Albuquerque to appear on November ballot
In just over a month, voters in Albuquerque will decide whether to ban late-term abortions. It promises to be a contentious fight. Yesterday, the state's attorney general said the proposed ordinance would be unconstitutional and unenforceable.
From the Fronteras Desk, Carrie Jung explores how the campaign in this moderate state with liberal abortion laws is playing out.
Comment Box: Couples counseling, Dodger Dogs, New York tacos
It's time to dip into the Comment Box to find out what you have to say about the work we're doing.
First up is a segment we did on couples counseling for Democrats and Republicans. Ben Karney, the UCLA psychology professor we spoke with, offered some insight into the parties' communication problems:
"One of the things that keeps couples together is the sense of being accountable to each other. We know that we have to work together, ultimately, so that is going to keep us coming to the negotiating table. On the other hand sometimes you see couples who are having affairs or who have started relationships outside the primary one and those couples are very hard to bring them back together because they're not accountable to each other. they're accountable to their new partners."
Maybe what we're seeing here is that, Republicans and Democrats, they should be married to each other because they have to run the government together or raise kids together if you think about it, but maybe they're having affairs with other partners, where they're really not accountable to each other anymore. They're accountable to their own constituencies, and that means that they don't have to compromise together."
Listener Carter Cohn posted on our site: "Are you people crazy? Obama and the Republicans are not a married couple in any way!' and listener Michael Cardoza weighed in, "What a shallow analysis of what's going on in Washington."
Ok, we admit that segment was pretty light, but we were just trying to have fun with Washington's sad storyline, a little laughter so you don't cry, you know?
Though these next few segments we are about to discuss are also light in topic, they aren't in calories.
Earlier this week we had a chat about Dodger Dogs with LA Times food blogger Jenn Harris. This generated a flurry of web posts and tweets, several dissing the dog, while some came to its defense.
One listener posted on our site: 'It tastes like heated up baloney," while another wrote in to say, "The regular Dodger Dogs leave a lot to be desired, but the all-beef option has been decent."
Listen up Dodger Stadium management, on Twitter we asked folks to tell us what kind of culinary treats they'd like see served there.
Here's a sample of a few:
$3 bacon-wrapped street dogs w grilled peppers & onions RT
What foods and drinks should
stadium sell to reflect
— John McCormack (@LAevolving)
$3 bacon-wrapped street dogs w grilled peppers & onions RT @KPCC What foods and drinks should @Dodgers stadium sell to reflect #LADiversity
— John McCormack (@LAevolving) August 19, 2013
Kimbap is the perfect ballpark food. Vendors could even toss it to you in the stands.
— Sku (@SkusRecentEats)
@KPCC @taketwo Kimbap is the perfect ballpark food. Vendors could even toss it to you in the stands.
— Sku (@SkusRecentEats) October 9, 2013
street tacos for sure! A truck or two would be awesome inside the stadium. I would also love to see local brewery beers served
— Leigh Brewer (@leighbrewer)
Yes! Diversity & health-consciousness would be great. Only 1 place in the whole stadium sells the vegetarian option
— Madeline Brozen (@Maddz4planning)
@KPCC @taketwo Yes! Diversity & health-consciousness would be great. Only 1 place in the whole stadium sells the vegetarian option
— Madeline Brozen (@Maddz4planning) October 9, 2013
More Southern California breweries! Stone, Green Flash, Golden Road, Ballast Point!
— JJinVenice (@JJinVenice)
@KPCC @dodger #LADiversity More Southern California breweries! Stone, Green Flash, Golden Road, Ballast Point!
— JJinVenice ✌️ (@JJinVenice) August 19, 2013
Speaking of tacos, you may have heard about the taco showdown we discussed last week. A New York Times food blogger dared to say that New York tacos could go "mano-a-mano" with LA Tacos. As expected, several of you were incensed:
Here's what listener Margo Grace Carr had to say: "My three years in New York City led me to a sad conclusion. It is actually possible to make something called guacamole that is disgusting and doesn't taste of avocados."
'Nuff said.
We always love to hear from you so please drop us a line and let us know how we are doing. You can email us TakeTwoShow@KPCC.org, post something on our website or tweet us
.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti looks back at his first 100 days in office
Tuesday marked Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti's 100th day in office. One-hundred days isn't a lot of time for an elected official to get much done, but it's enough time to gauge how people feel about the job he's doing.
The Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A. conducted a survey of over 500 registered voters. The results showed a 56 percent approval rating and a 5-to-1 ratio of positive over negative feelings for Garcetti's job performance.
Mayor Garcetti joins the show to tell us how he thinks he's doing 100 days into his term.
Interview Highlights:
Today is day 102. What have you been able to get done so far?
"I think we are married, the City and I, and it's been a heck of a honeymoon. I look forward to four great years together and beyond. The first 100 days, to me, are really about building a team and I tried to establish a culture of accountability, of openness and accessibility, and to not be about glitz and glamour, but trying to get back to the basics. The meat and potatoes of governing, of solving issues from our streets to our traffic, looking at the issues to jump start our economy. That's been my focus the first 100 days, to get the right people in place to make that happen."
How do you think you've done as Mayor?
"I don't spend a lot of time on self-analysis, I look in the mirror just to make sure there's nothing on my face and I haven't cut myself shaving, but beyond that I'm too excited and have a sense of urgency about this city. A sense of excitement about where we're headed.
"The first 100 days...opening up what somebody just said is now the finest terminal in North America with our international terminal, looking at the Broad Museum, which is now 2/3 of the way done, bringing $19 million in job training from the secretary of labor to help people get jobs in the healthcare profession, or just some of the other things that we've done to hold office hours in the streets of Boyle Heights or Van Nuys City Hall. I really have loved the interaction I've had with the people of LA."
Was Brian Cummings departure part of your reassessment of the city's general managers?
"For the first time I reinterviewed all the different general managers and chiefs and heads of bureaus and executive directors...It's an expected thing in places like Washington or Sacramento when a new administration comes in that they build their team. Here in Los Angeles there was a culture of if you have the job you keep the job.
"We've had great, committed public servants, but by mutual agreement a number of them will be transitioning and it allows us to bring in that sense of urgency. It's not about who stays and who goes as much as it is about having every department set numerical goals that we share with the public so the public can judge the job that we're doing."
Was the chief asked to resign?
"We have a mutual agreement that he would retire. We're going to be appointing as an acting chief, James Featherstone, who heads up our emergency management department. I think chief Cummings is a great, committed public servant and I'm very focused on reducing our response times, improving some of the technology in the fire department and making sure that we're prepared for all emergencies. In these positions, nobody would get to this level if they weren't good at what they did. I want to honor that service, but in some cases we have a mutual understanding that we're going to take a different direction."
The Dodgers take on St. Louis next. Will you be betting on the Dodgers against St. Louis mayor Francis Slay?
"I am reaching out today and my idea for a bet...I'm going to challenge him that the loser has to come to the other city and do a public service project with the other Mayor, so I look forward to welcoming him here to LA. We can do some work together...but I expect high things from our Dodgers."
Nobel Prize in Literature goes to Canadian writer Alice Munro
Today the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Alice Munro, a Canadian writer known for her contemporary short stories.
For more on her career and this prestigious award, we're joined now by our favorite book critic - David Kipen, founder of lending library Libros Schmibros.