On Thursday Take Two will discuss news that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy is set to resign after iPad controversy and what that means to parents and the district, how responsible parents are for their children's gun actions, a Central California Indian casino remaining closed among a tribal battle, and the Wheel Thing looks at the Indian motorcycle.
LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy set to resign
Los Angeles Unified school district superintendent John Deasy is expected to announce his resignation Thursday, ending his nearly four-year tenure as head of the nation’s second-largest school district.
UPDATE: Deasy has since resigned as LAUSD superintendent
A source close to the discussions who was not authorized to speak for the school board confirmed Deasy's plans.
The move comes after months of controversy, including Deasy's handling of LA Unified's iPad program. Emails published by KPCC show Deasy communicated about project specifications before the project went out for public bid.
KPCC education reporter Annie Gilbertson, who has been uncovering this story, shares more.
Related: LA Unified superintendent John Deasy poised to resign
Firearms in the home: Should parents be held accountable?
A Los Angeles mother is facing criminal charges this week because her 17-year-old son took a loaded gun to school.
No one was hurt during the incident at Will Rogers High in Van Nuys back in May, but L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer says it's time for parents to be held more accountable for the supervision of firearms in their home.
Related: Mother faces criminal charges after teenage son takes gun to school
Joining Take Two to examine this case is Stanley Goldman, a Criminal Law professor at Loyola Law School.
Central California casino remains closed amidst tribal battles
A U.S. District Court judge in Fresno ordered the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Central California to remain closed Wednesday.
The move came as a way to help resolve a battle between tribal factions - a battle so bitter it lead to an armed stand off last week.
This is just the latest instance of tribal disputes flaring up at California casinos.
For more on this issue, Nelson Rose, an expert on gambling and casino law at Whittier Law School, weighs in.
Amid fracking bans, Colorado discusses the controversial practice
This summer, the United States overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's largest oil producer.
And that's all due to one thing: the rise of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
It's a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock by drilling down into the earth, where a high-pressure water mixture is injected into the rock to release the gas inside.
Fracking has allowed oil and gas firms to tap new supplies, and has led to a boom in some U.S. states like North Dakota and Pennsylvania.
But it has also drawn controversy, with environmentalists warning about negative health consequences.
That has led some towns to ban the practice.
The BBC's Kim Gittleson went to Colorado to find out more.
She begins her report at a public meeting about fracking in Denver.
The Wheel Thing: Indian, the other American motorcycle
Indian motorcycles trace their history all the way back to 1901, but the company's signature model, the Scout, first introduced in 1920, remains an icon in two-wheel motoring design.
Indian went under in 1953, and there have been several failed attempts at reviving the brand. Then, three years ago, Polaris, best known for snowmobiles, purchased the rights to the marque.
They've created a new Scout, which according to our auto and motorcycle critic, Susan Carpenter, incorporates modern mechanical elements while retaining the iconic design of the original.
Along with the Scout, the new Polaris-owned Indian has introduced a big, fat touring bike, The Roadmaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a-kTUmFBMo
Carpenter rode one in to the studio, and say she loves it. At more than 900 pounds it's a lot to handle, but she says it's so well-balanced, you quickly forget you are riding on a monster. Plus, there is tons of room for luggage and she says the brown leather saddle is a joy to sit in, and just to ponder.
Susan Carpenter is auto and motorcycle critic for the OC Register. She joins us each week on Thursday for The Wheel Thing.
Lab notes: How failure can be good, what typing says about you and which animal might have super hearing
Why admitting a scientific failure can be a good thing, can a computer sense your mood, and which animal might have super hearing? These are some of the questions we hope to answer in our new regular segment, Lab Notes.
Sanden Totten, Southern California Public Radio's science reporter, joins A Martinez to talk about some fun new scientific studies.
In this Thursday's installment of Lab Notes we look at our diets, our sleep habits and our self esteem.
A scientific failure turns into a discussion about how studies are conducted
Researchers studying memory tried to replicate some of their earlier results for a new study, but it turns out that they couldn't do it.
Instead of hiding their failure, they published the report - a move that's rarely done in scientific research. This study quickly became one of the most discussed papers of the week it came out.
The reason? Science is all about proving something once, then proving it to make sure the initial discovery wasn't a fluke, but there's a concern among researchers that scientists are publishing something once - getting credit and then moving on.
No one wants to replicate an old study because it's hard to get funding for stuff that's not new - it's not as interesting to replicate and if it turns out you were wrong the first time - you can look bad. But if we don't replicate stuff and admit when there are failures, some pretty bad information can get out into the world and remain unchallenged for years.
What typing says about your personality
A new study looked at whether or not how we type says something about our mental state. Researchers had subjects type up a paragraph from "Alice In Wonderland." They also asked those subjects how they were feeling.
Using a program, they taught a computer to recognize certain typing patterns and associate it with those moods. Some of the goals of the study are to help create more responsive computers, maybe even have a computer that's able to sense if you are tired and suggest you go to bed.
Elephants just got a lot cooler - they may have super hearing
A study from Nambia found some surprising things about elephants - like they might have super hearing. As many know, elephants are migratory but also have uncanny migratory patterns - sometimes shifting mid-way through a trek and going someone where else.
Researchers wanted to find out what this was about - so the GPS tagged a few elephants. It turns out they are really good at figuring out where it recently rained and heading there - sometimes seemingly sensing rain from 150 miles away. Maybe they can hear it with those big ears, the researchers suggest.
State of Affairs: Deasy resignation reaction, governor's race, Alarcon conviction, water conservation
For State of Affairs, Take Two's weekly look at politics in the Golden State, Southern California Public Radio's political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze join the show.
Topics discussed Thursday include:
- LA public schools superintendent John Deasy resigning.
- The governor's race: Republican candidate Neel Kashkari released his first television ad this week. It goes after Governor Jerry Brown on education but some have raised an eyebrow at the ad's storyline.
- The Walt Disney Concert Hall played host to more than music Wednesday night. Kevin de Leon was sworn in as the new senate president pro tempore. The party had a $50,000 price tag.
- LA City Councilman Richard Alarcon was sentenced to 120 days in jail this week following his conviction on perjury and voter fraud charges. The councilman was found guilty of living outside his city council district. How much of a deterrent will this case be to other politicians?
- Mayor Eric Garcetti is driving home the message of water conservation after he stopped at DWP headquarters this week to talk about some new voluntary water conservation measures.
- Sheila Kuehl is now a candidate for county supervisor but she was once a child actor famous for her role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Now she's hosting "From Zev to Zelda."
Charter schools may start looking better to parents
John Deasy's resignation as head of the LAUSD system might rattle the nerves of parents.
After all, it's their children who'll face any reverberating issues that trickle down.
But perhaps today's news may encourage them to get away from these troubles and put their kids into charter schools, instead.
Guilbert Hentschke, professor of education at USC, explains that charters come with their own set of issues.
However, the popularity of these schools is already big in Los Angeles, and it's only growing bigger.
What does Deasy's resignation mean for LA schools?
L.A. Unified District Superintendent John Deasy stepped down Thursday, and his resignation marks the end of his nearly four-year tenure as superintendent of the second-largest school district in the country.
His resignation comes after months of criticism over his management style and technology initiatives, including the iPad program and a brand new digital student attendance and grading system that was working so poorly it left some high school kids at risk of not graduating.
For more on what this means for L.A. schools, LA Unified School Board member Steve Zimmer weighs in.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Why was Ramon Cortines chosen as interim superintendent and how will you search for his permanent replacement?
With Cortines I'd never use the word "interim." This will be the third time he has led the district. No one knows this district better. No one in the nation has more experience in running large urban school districts than Ray Cortines. Superintendent Cortines will bring stability to our school communities and I think that he will bring a sense of cooperative momentum to move forward on a lot of the transformational changes that were made in policy during Dr. Deasy's tenure.
The statement from the district says Cortines will serve as superintendent of schools pending a search process for a successor to John Deasy. So how do you go about looking for a more permanent replacement?
We certainly know Superintendent Cortines can guide us through the rest of the school year keeping our schools in tact and momentum moving forward for students. We know that Superintendent Cortines, if needed, could open our school year next year. So the process for naming the superintendent who will serve the next lengthy tenure in LAUSD will commence some time over this period. It will be a very, very intentional process that includes the voices of the community, teachers parents and everybody who has a stake in the future of public education in Los Angeles.
What led to the decision that Deasy's departure would be in the best interest of the district?
This was a very difficult decision. The improvements in terms of educational outcomes for students are very clear and very important and that weighed heavily upon us. Dr. Deasy has led us through that process. We're very proud of that work and very thankful for his role in it. But we are moving into a period of implementation of some of these changes that involves a very different type of leadership. It involves a unique form of cooperations and we felt that at this juncture it was the best thing to kind of start again with building those kind of trusting relationships that can create the cooperation we need to implement these changes cooperatively.
Some parents have a sense of disappointment, not so much with Deasy as with the board. Some people feel you don't get along and that's making the board dysfunctional. Your response?
I understand that narrative and I feel badly about that perception. But the work of this board over the past month to make these two very important decisions has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this board is working together, committing to putting children first, to ensuring the public education outcomes for kids living in the most difficult positions of peril in our city are transformed. We have a huge responsibility.
‘Young Ones’ tells disturbing story of water scarcity, survival
The new film “Young Ones” depicts a very disturbing, though perhaps not too distant future, where water is so scarce that people wash their dishes with dirt.
"Young Ones" tells the story through the eyes of two men and a 14-year-old boy, and how they will fight to survive.
The film is written and directed by Jake Paltrow, and stars Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Shannon.