This week we launch our series on the Los Angeles Aqueduct. First, we hear why building the LA Aqueduct was the city's 'original sin'. Then, producer Meghan McCarty takes us on a trip to the source of LA's water. Later, we discuss whether a little inflation actually be good for the economy?; Latino political donors push GOP to move on immigration reform; The image and influence of California's organized labor; Odd Hollywood Jobs: The spookiest prop house in showbiz; On The Lot: Deadline.com drama, biopics and more.
Can a little inflation actually be good for the economy?
If you lived through the mid-1970's, you remember how inflation surged to double digits and created havoc in the economy, as people watched prices spiral up and up.
But for several years now, some economists have been arguing that a little inflation is just what the economy needs. Here to explain, Binyamin Applebaum, finance and economics reporter for The New York Times.
Latino political donors push GOP to move on immigration reform
California Congressman Jeff Denham became the first House Republican to join Democrats in co-sponsoring a broad immigration overhaul bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants.
In a statement yesterday Denham said, "We can't afford any more delays."
Other Republicans in Congress may also be considering what they can and can't afford, now that a Latino political advocacy group has vowed to oust lawmakers who stand in the way of immigration reform.
Matea Gold has been writing about this for the Washington Post and she joins us now.
Why building the LA Aqueduct was the city's 'original sin'
This story is part of KPCC's weeklong series exploring the history of the L.A. Aqueduct and looking at the future of L.A.'s water resources. View the whole series
November 5th marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a huge civil engineering feat that brings water some 300 miles from the Eastern Sierra Nevadas all the way to L.A.
The water it brought paved the way for the then-small city of 100,000 to grow into the giant metropolis it is today. On the day the aqueduct opened in 1913, chief engineer William Mulholland proudly proclaimed "There it is, take it," water was released into the San Fernando Valley.
RELATED: Timeline: The Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct
A Martinez visited the aqueduct terminus at the north end of the San Fernando Valley with UCLA historian Jon Christensen, who is also the editor of Boom Magazine. He explains why the project was so important to building L.A.'s identity, but that it was also done at a great cost to the Owens River Valley residents.
Interview Highlights:
On how the aqueduct was crucial to building L.A.'s identity:
"Without this aqueduct, Los Angeles, as we know it, would not be here. The L.A. Aqueduct is really original sin and signal achievement for Los Angeles, for the American West, for the history of water in the West, for really the history of our modern hydraulic society. It’s so wrapped up in the history and culture and environment and engineering and building of the city, that’s really central to our identity. I think what’s really interesting is this 100 anniversary has given us the occasion to reflect on that history and then also think about where we’re going."
On why he thinks it was L.A.'s 'original sin':
"The water grab, as some people call it, of Los Angeles going 100 miles to a rural community and taking that water and bringing it to the city. It's seen by many people as the original sin of the American west, as these cities going to remote areas and taking their water."
On why it was necessary to sustain L.A.:
It was a booming city. It was less than a couple hundred thousand people. So, by the time this water began flowing here, Los Angeles was already more than 400,000 people, and it continued to boom. So, it was a city that had broken the bounds of its early existence as a pueblo – as this 19th century agricultural town – and was becoming a modern city. It was struggling with where it was going to get the water to be able to provide the people who were already there, the people who were coming and this vision for a great city.
On William Mulholland's meteoric rise to power:
"He had started out as a ditch tender and had risen to be the chief engineer. He went on to not only build this incredible engineering project, but also to become a leader who could persuade the people of this vision for the future. It needed investment of the people of Los Angeles, who passed numerous bonds to fund the building of the aqueduct...about $23 million. It was done under time, finished 23 months early and on budget. Something we really have trouble understanding these days."
On the meaning behind Mulholland's line "There it is, take it" on the aqueduct's opening day:
"That phrase really also embodies that hubris that we find troubling these days. The presumption that there it is, we can take it. We can use the environment in whatever ways we need to. It’s ours for the taking. The book critic for the LA Times, David Ulin, has a wonderful essay in which he says, “There it is; take it,” should be the motto for L.A.
"It should be on the doors of all the police cars and the Department of Water and Power. That we should own it, and that this is really the spirit that made L.A. and we should embrace the complexity of all of that. I think there is something to be said for that. We have this complicated, troubled history. But, as we come to terms with it, if we could embrace that and the changes that we can make for the new century. The opportunities for the future are also there for our taking."
How LA's water gets from the Eastern Sierras to your cup
This story is part of KPCC's weeklong series exploring the history of the L.A. Aqueduct and looking at the future of L.A.'s water resources. View the whole series
The Owens Valley is a vast moonscape of high desert that seems to go on forever. After driving for nearly five hours from Los Angeles, I finally make it to Big Springs campground at Inyo National Forest at 7,000 feet above sea level, not far from Mammoth Lake.
This is the source. There's a rush of water in this volcanic creek bed and it's just rushing downstream into the Owens River where it will eventually make its way to Los Angeles. But before it does, this flow of water must be diverted from its natural river channel into an artificial conveyance system: the aqueduct. That happens about 30 miles south of Bishop.
RELATED: Check out KPCC's LA Aqueduct at 100 series
At this point it looks like a river with a natural bottom with some manmade rock sides, but at some point it changes into concrete section. Then all the water is in enclosed tunnel or pipe sections that go all the way to L.A.
The aqueduct operates on a very simply principle: Gravity.
"There's no pumping. It's all gravity fed," said Jim Yanotta, who manages the Aqueduct for Los Angeles Dept. Water and Power. "Mulholland and the engineers back then found a location at about 4,000 foot elevation. It's about 238 miles with a constant fall or a gradual fall. It allowed us to deliver this water to the San Fernando Valley which is 1,500 feet above sea level."
Depending on water levels, it takes anywhere between five days and three months for the water that originates in the Owens River to make it to L.A. via the aqueduct. When it finally arrives it's got to be cleaned up.
"It's picked up sediments you know it runs through the eastern Sierra it picks up glacial silt," said Richard Harasick, assistant director of water operations for the LADWP. "That sediment tends to be hideout for virus and bacteria and so when you clean the water you remove that sediment and clean out those undesirable products as well."
After a 500-mile drive, a little too much trail mix and way too many replays of TLC, a cool sip of water really hits the spot.
The image and influence of California's organized labor
In many ways, organized labor is the most the powerful political force in deeply Democratic California. But the bitter Bay Area transit strike that ended last week revealed a few cracks in the armor.
The BART strike may have hurt organized labor's public image, but unions see it differently. For the California Report, Scott Detrow has more.
On The Lot: Deadline.com drama, biopics and more
Time for On The Lot, our weekly look at the business of entertainment with Rebecca Keegan of the LA Times.
The big news this week has to do with a website called Deadline.com and its founder Nikki Finke. About four years ago, an upcoming media mogul, Jay Penske — he's the son of the racing legend Roger Penske — purchased Deadline.com, giving Finke's site a big infusion of cash. But things went sour last year when he also bought Variety.
Finke started tweeting up a storm about Penske. Here's one of her tweets: "Earth to Penske: Hollywood tried and failed to intimidate me. Big media tried and failed to intimidate me. I like to brawl, remember?" That's just one of many. Have we heard anything from Jay Penske?
Seems like this is almost sure to end up as a made-for-TV movie or something. But let's talk about some actual movies, and what seems like a odd string of films about piano playing pop stars. Of course, there was HBO's "Behind the Candelabra" about Liberace. There's a movie about Queen's front man Freddie Mercury in the works, and Rocketman, about, who else, Elton John.
Hollywood lost a legendary stunt man and director. Hal Needham, who according to your paper, broke 56 bones in the course of his long career and a pretty incredible life story.
Odd Hollywood Jobs: The spookiest prop house in showbiz
Time for another installment of our series on Odd Hollywood jobs, which looks at the gigs behind the scenes that help make movie magic.
This time around things are gonna get a little bit gruesome.
The horror prop house Dapper Cadaver supplies severed heads, fake blood and other less gory objects to Hollywood. Hosts of Halloween shindigs — including the White House — also rely on the shop for all their fright fest needs.
Take Two took a trip to Dapper Cadaver in Burbank and met up with owner BJ Winslow, who makes a lot of the props by hand.
Test driving LA Unified's iPad educational software
There has been a lot of talk about L.A. Unified's iPad devices, but less said so far about the educational software they included. KPCC's Annie Gilbertson borrowed a device from an oversight committee member, and put it in the hands of a kid.
Investor Carl Icahn pushes for changes at Apple
Since Apple sold more than 9 million new iPhones on the weekend of their release, you might think the Cupertino based company would be beloved by Wall Street.
But as it turns out, they have a somewhat tenuous relationship. The company's stock has been on a bit of roller coaster this year. It currently sits at about $527, far off its old price of $702 where it sat just over a year ago.
But investors are waiting to see what happens later today when the company releases its fourth quarter earnings. Senior editor Philip Elmer-DeWitt from Fortune joins the show with more.
Las Vegas school district scrambles to make space for more students
Apple may have lost some of its shine, but Vegas is getting it back. Hit hard by the recession and housing bust, the area has made a surprising recovery.
Las Vegas is part of the Clark County School District, one of the biggest and fastest growing in the country. The district added over 3,000 new students this year, as well as a new program to boost English Language Learners.
Like other districts coping with growing pains — including LA Unified — more and more children are being schooled in portable classrooms. From the Fronteras Desk in Las Vegas, Kate Sheehy reports.
Cinefamily theatre hosts 'United States of Horror' film series
Looking for something particularly horrifying to get in the Halloween spirit this year? You might wanna check out a film series hosted by the Cinefamily theater on Fairfax.
It's called "United States of Horror," and it's a cross-country death trip of sorts celebrating each state of the union with a gory feature that exemplifies that particular place. It's been running all month and goes through Halloween night.
Cinefamily's programmer Bret Berg joins the show with more.
The history of Coachella's iconic dates
If you drive southeast of Palm Springs through the Eastern Coachella Valley, it's easy to get a little overwhelmed by the date palm trees.
They grow as tall as 70 feet, and they're everywhere. While dates aren't native to the Coachella Valley, they've given this region an identity, and have also become a top moneymaking crop. For the California Report, Lisa Morehouse has more.
Around 1900, as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to find crops from around the world which would grow well in the United States, “agricultural explorers” visited Algeria, Iraq and Egypt. They returned with date palm shoots, and after planting in a number of regions, found the Coachella Valley had the perfect climate for the crop.
Soon, farmers and business leaders decided consumers might find the Middle Eastern connection romantic. Theaters adopted Arabian themes, the town of Indio built a fairground with turrets and the Old Bagdad stage, and towns were named Mecca, Thermal and Oasis.
There aren’t many vestiges of Arabian-themed agri-tourism left in Coachella Valley, but dates are still important. They bring in over $30 million annually to the region, and more than 90 percent of the dates harvested in the U.S. grow here.
Outside the town of Thermal, date farmer Doug Adair explained, “All Medjools [a type of date] can be traced back to a single oasis in Morocco, and now it’s one of the main crops. It’s not my favorite, but for most people that like a really sweet dessert date, that’s the Mercedes-Benz of the date family.”
Walking through his small organic date farm called Pato’s Dream Date Gardens, Adair explains this isn’t seasonal work. Fall is harvest time, but dates require year-round attention. In January or February, the palmeros, or palm workers, make the trees safe to work in. They trim the crowns, ridding them of date spines with huge thorns, which can impale shoes, and flesh.
“There’s a story that God created the date palm in the Garden of Eden to benefit humanity,” he said, “and then the devil came along and added the spines to punish the humans for indulging in this amazing fruit.”
Adair came to the Eastern Coachella Valley in the 1970s, when he was working for the United Farmworkers Union. When he bought a house with nine palms, he partnered with a palmero friend to learn to farm dates, and they split the harvest earnings.
That friend is now his neighbor and fellow date farmer Francisco Paniagua. When I visit, it’s March, and Paniagua has already collected pollen from male date palm trees. Now, he’s climbing a ladder into the branches of a small female palm where brown sheaths that look like tongues cover the date flowers.
Adair explains, “As the flower matures, the sheath splits open. You can see the little yellow beads on the strands – on the hilos.”
From afar, the flowers look like ears of corn, up close, like strings of yellow pearls.
“When he goes up there,” Adair continued, “he’ll cut that sheath away and then put the male pollen on the female flower.” Paniagua squeezes a tool with a little rubber ball on the end to pollinate each flower.
Palmeros are considered elite among farmworkers -- highly skilled, well-respected, and better-paid.
In Spanish, Paniagua explained, “The average palmero makes about $25,000 to $30,000 a year. It’s a well-paying job.”
That relatively high pay comes at a cost.
“Palm tree work is very dangerous,” he said. “First, one must learn how to maneuver the ladder. It is very heavy; about 120 pounds. We have to carry it around. Then there are extremely sharp knives and machetes. There are countless of things to be wary of.”
Paniagua knows this from a very scary personal experience he had years ago.
“One time I fell off the palm tree, from about 35 feet high. I was up there trimming the thorns and, well, I fell feet first. I hurt my back. I had to have surgery and was in the hospital for about four months.”
There are stories of palmeros suffocating under decaying palm fronds, even dying falling from trees. Emmanuel Benitez, who works with California Rural Legal Assistance, believes the way workers are paid adds to the danger.
“The workers work by piece rate. Piece rate means you are paid a certain price for each tree you do. So the more trees you do, the more money you’re going to make.”
It is commonly thought palmeros work faster if they don’t wear safety harnesses. A little over a decade ago, Benitez was part of a group of advocates, Cal OSHA staff and date palm growers to draft the first ever safety codes specific to palmeros. Now, along with other regulations, workers must wear safety harnesses and the ladders must meet certain specifications. Benitez says he rarely sees employers in violation of the regulations, now.
Despite these protections, Paniagua is clear about the qualities someone still needs to be a palmero:
“A lot of courage and a lot of strength is needed to work with palm trees.”
That’s how this group of workers will carry on an agricultural tradition that’s a century old.
'Nubs' children's book wins California Young Reader award
"Nubs, the True Story of a Mutt a Marine and a Miracle" is a children's book that shares the journey of a dog who finds himself in the company of compassionate Marine.
Named for the little bits of ears he had left, Nubs meets Major Brian Dennis in Iraq, who shares his meals with him and heals his wounds. When Major Dennis is assigned to a different post, he has to say goodbye to his new friend.
Hungry, cold and injured, he treks across Iraq and finally reunites with his Marine buddy 70 miles away. Eventually, with a little help, Nubs makes an even longer trip to the U.S.
The New York Times best seller is the winner of multiple awards, including most recently, the California Young Reader Medal.
Author Mary Nethery collaborated on this book with Major Dennis and Kirby Larson and joins us now.
Author Terry McMillan on her new novel 'Who Asked You?'
Writer Terry McMillan made a name for herself in 1992 with the novel 'Waiting to Exhale,' which spent months on the New York Times Best seller list.
She followed that up with 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back,' a book about a successful 40-year-old woman who falls in love with a much younger man while on vacation in Jamaica. That book was turned into a successful film starring Angela Basset and Taye Diggs.
McMillan is back with her eighth novel called 'Who Asked You?'
It's told from various perspectives, beginning with an older woman named Betty Jean, struggling to survive with a husband who has Alzheimer's. Betty Jean's life is further complicated when her drug-addicted daughter drops off her two sons and then skips town.
Terry McMillan joins the show with more.