California, other West Coast states sign climate change pact; Sriracha maker Huy Fong Foods sued as 'public nuisance'; How the LA Aqueduct altered the Owens Valley environment; Pension reform: Long Beach claims leadership in reducing risk; Privacy a major hurdle for states testing 'black box' recorders in cars; Celebrating 100 years of excavation at the La Brea Tar Pits, plus much more.
California, other West Coast states sign climate change pact
Monday afternoon, California joined Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in signing an agreement to battle climate change. This plan includes the support of research and permit initiatives for clean energy and preservation.
It also pushes for more government electric vehicles, with a goal of 10 percent by 2016. Paul Rogers is an environment reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and joins us now.
Sriracha maker Huy Fong Foods sued as 'public nuisance'
Residents in Irwindale have been complaining about the fumes from the production of the popular spicy sauce Sriracha. The city filed a lawsuit in LA Superior Court yesterday asking a judge to halt Sriracha production at the Huy Fong Foods factory.
Fred Galante, city attorney for Irwindale, joins the show with more.
RELATED: Sriracha factory under fire for fumes; city sues
Pension reform: Long Beach claims leadership in reducing risk
Many California cities have promised workers far more in pensions than they can deliver.
Attempts in San Jose, San Diego and elsewhere to reduce public employee retirement packages have ended up in court. So when Long Beach announced it would soon become the largest California city to get its employees to accept pension reform,
KPCC political reporter Sharon McNary has the story.
How the LA Aqueduct altered the Owens Valley environment
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
From the start, the people of Los Angeles celebrated their aqueduct, cheering by the thousands as water tumbled south. Where that water came from, in the Owens Valley, the response to LA's thirst was quite different.
Over time, a fragile peace gave way to anger, and battles on the aqueduct itself moved into courtrooms. KPCC's Molly Peterson joins the show with more on how the aqueduct altered the Owens Valley environment and its relationship with Los Angeles.
Aerial Tour of the Los Angeles Aqueduct:
Interview Highlights:
Effects of the aqueduct on the Owens Valley?
"The valley is long, so it had an immediate physical impact. It was on the bottom half, the southern half of the county. But by the '20s there were a 100,000 new people coming to Los Angeles a year, which is quite a bit of growth. So, the diversions began occurring further and further north in they valley at a time of drought in Los Angeles and the Owens Valley. That made tensions."
On how the tensions escalated:
"They began to use dynamite to make their feelings clear in a destructive way. There were bombing incidents during the construction of the aqueduct from 1907 to 1913, then after the aqueduct was built there were more dynamite incidents, including one at a place called Jawbone Canyon, which is along the Aqueduct. You can see it on the map on KPCC.org. At that particular location, you can see pictures of this crushed pipeline that was bombed by people living in the Owens Valley, it was covered in newsreels. "
"Jawbone wasn't the only incident. There was also the Alabama Spillway incident. It was kind of like occupy Owens Valley. In the fall of 1924, about a 100 people from the Owens Valley gathered at the Alabama Spillway, which is a little further north from that bombing incident I told you about. They opened the gates of the spillway and dumped the water. Took it basically from the city of Los Angeles and put it back into its historic pathway into the valley and they kept it. It became this party for hundreds and hundreds of people. People took their children to it dressed up and they listened to Enrique Caruso records and they gathered there for a while."
On the impact these tensions had in Los Angeles:
"LA did not like being cast as the villain, and there was international publicity in which LA was considered the might and the Owens Valley folk were considered the right. But that is not what starved LA's thirst. What happened was incident like the one in Jawbone Canyon and the Alabama Spillway disappeared because the people in the Owens Valley ran out of money.
"There was the Depression. In order to continue such a fight they would have needed money. The bank in the Owens Valley collapsed, the resistance kind of went underground and turned into much more of a Cold War."
RELATED: Aerial photos of the Los Angeles Aqueduct
On how long the Owens Valley water war lasted:
"The war continued and it picked up and it got hot again in the 1970s after the city of Los Angeles decided to add a second aqueduct. It's basically a way that the city of Los Angeles was able to convey more water from the Owens Valley down south, but then there were questions about the kind of things that Los Angeles was doing to put more water into those channels, including ground water pumping.
"Los Angeles pulled water out of the water table and sent it into the aqueduct. Those were the pumps that Los Angeles used, and uses to this day. There were back-and-forth and tit for tat fights over 25 years about what is environmentally acceptable, what the long term effects of this stuff are and continue to be in the valley.
"The Owens Valley was historically quite a bit of grassland and this grassland was lush and green, particularly along these waterways. Los Angeles changed that when it began to pump deep into the ground water table, pulling water out of the ground and from around these waterways into its aqueduct. DWP, to this day, says that a long-term water agreement makes it alright for it to continue to pump what it does. Every year they have to report their pumping to the Owens Valley and to the city of Los Angeles, and DWP insists that what it is doing is perfectly acceptable."
On whether there was ever an amicable relationship between LA and the Owens Valley:
"Once in a while the DWP makes a positive impression on the Easter Sierra. David Nahai, who was the head of the DWP in the early 2000s presided over the return of water to the lower Owens River. This was a long-term consequence of the fights over the ground water that we talked about earlier.
"David Nahai was there with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when they turned the wheel in order to move more water out of the aqueduct and leave it in the Owens Valley for environmental benefits, and he harken back to something William Mulholland had said when LA took the water. And Mulholland said this to the cheers of Angelenos. He said, 'There it is. Take it.' David Nahai reached back to that part of history when he talked about the lower Owens Valley's future."
On the relationship between Owens Valley and DWP going forward:
"It does seem like what dries it up or cools it down every single time is money. The DWP has a litigation budget that is the size of Inyo County's entire operating budget, so there is just no way for Inyo County to fight effectively against the DWP. The DWP also says it has law on its side. So DWP folks have been living in the Inyo County for 100 years and that has changed the character of the valley too."
Celebrating 100 years of excavation at the La Brea Tar Pits
100 years ago this week, the County of Los Angeles began digging up, researching and putting on display the fossils found inside the black, bubbly lake we now know as the La Brea Tar Pits.
It's one of Los Angeles' most unique landmarks, with the oozing puddles of asphalt you'll find dotting Hancock Park to the Page Museum and its fish bowl, where you can watch researchers discover and clean up fossils in real time.
KPCC's Kevin Ferguson went to the tar pits' celebration yesterday and met up with one of the tar pits' most beloved performers.
Privacy a major hurdle for states testing 'black box' recorders in cars
These days people are driving less and they're using more fuel-efficient cars, meaning gas usage has gone down. While that may be good for the environment — and your wallet — it's actually hurting many states and the federal government, both of which depend on gas taxes to repair and maintain roads.
While the federal government works on a solution to this growing issue, some states are already testing out mileage tracking devices, which may someday be used to institute a pay-per-mile taxing system.
Think of it like a black box for cars.
While this new taxing method may help fill the gaps left by dwindling gas tax revenues, some people are worried that the devices could be used to track more than just miles driven per year.
The company True Mileage in Long Beach is working on developing this technology for wider use by addressing some of these privacy issues. True Mileage CEO Ryan Morrison joins the show with more.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Midlake, Carla Morrison and Omar Souleyman
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our regular segment in which we talk about the best in new music. This week we're joined by music critic Steve Hochman and Justino Águila associate editor of latin music for Billboard.
Steve's Picks
Artist: Midlake
Album: Antiphon
Release Date: Nov. 5
Songs: “Antiphon,” “The Old and the Young”
An antiphon, a Greek word, is the response part of call-and-response singing — a choir or congregation answering a priest or cantor, first applied to ancient Christian liturgical music. In the case of Midlake, hailing from Denton, Texas, the band is the choir, perhaps making a response to Tim Smith, who after serving as lead singer and primary songwriter since the band formed a decade ago, left in the middle of making what was to be the next album.
What could have been turmoil turned to creative opportunity. The rest of the band and a few new members regrouped, scrapped most of the material-in-progress and embraced a collective spirit. The result on Antiphon is an enveloping, gorgeous, lush, quasi-psychedelic sound that at once maximizes and expands the sounds the group had evolved so winningly with 2010’s The Courage of Others and 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther.
Guitarist Eric Pulido stepped to the front as primary vocalist, but it’s clearly a collective effort. Obvious comparisons can be made to some of the more genteel Pink Floyd moments and Moody Blues — that’s a compliment — the latter in particularly on songs sporting Jesse Chandler’s flute.
And the English folk-rock influences that were prominent on the last album are integrated in the songwriting again, while some old-timers might also be reminded of the inventive ‘60s L.A. band Spirit. Of course, they also fit well alongside such contemporaries as Radiohead and Wilco, without sounding like either. and the choral-like vocals and layered swirling sounds are all Midlake, renewal both of a sound and the band itself.
The title song blends all of it into an entrancing rush, while “The Old and the Young,” the title a nod to the cross-generational scope, shows off a new, lighter spirit. All of this came out at a recent show at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the “new” Midlake mirroring the muted old-wood, rustic nature of the site.m -- Steve Hochman
Midlake - Antiphon [Official Music Video]
Artist: Omar Souleyman
Album: Wenu Wenu
Release Date: Oct. 22
Songs: “Wenu Wenu,” “Nahy”
You know the Adam Sandler movie "The Wedding Singer"? Omar Souleyman is a very different wedding singer. Oddly enough, the Syrian artist has become a world music sensation with his electronics-juiced variations on dabke, the Arabic rhythm that powers wedding and other celebrations in that region.
Having brought a modern energy to the music, he’s been a much-in-demand star for those celebrations at home for years, but in recent times has taken the music to festival stages in Europe and even here in the U.S., grabbing the attention of various music nuts and aficionados — Bjork is among those with whom he’s collaborated in the past. It’s easy to hear why. I first heard about him via Henry Rollins’ radio show and I was hooked.
His new album, Wenu Wenu, was produced in Brooklyn by English electronic musician Kieran Hebden, a.k.a. Four Tet, though it is still of a piece with Souleyman’s work with long-time collaborator Rizan Sa’id — passionate vocals over spiked rhythms and bleating electronic keyboard lines.
“Wenu Wenu,” means simply “Where is she? Where is she?” These are songs of the heart, content-wise no different than thousands of other folk songs from just about any culture on Earth. But the very fact that its from war-torn Syria puts other spins on this. But neither the artist nor the music have any outward political thrust, and there’s even very little overt Islamic content.
Though the title of the song “Nahy,” with more traditional instrumentation, as far as I can gather, references things that are forbidden or seen as wrong. Still, this is party music and perhaps a good reminder that even amid war and strife, the celebrations of life can go on. -- Steve Hochman
Omar Souleyman - Wenu Wenu (Album Trailer)
Justino's Picks
Artist: Prince Royce
Album: Soy El Mismo (I'm The Same)
Songs: "Darte Un Beso" (Give You A Kiss), "Te Regalo El Mar" (My Gift To You Is the Ocean)
At 24, Prince Royce is gaining major traction for his bachata (ba-CHA-tah) style of music—a genre that originates from the Dominican Republic. Royce, who was born in New York, has taken the music to new heights by bridging several genres together from … bachata to pop and R&B.
Add smooth vocals and a charismatic persona and you have one of Latin music’s most promising artists who is already touring and working with major artists such as Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull and Selena Gomez. In 2010, Prince had several commercial successes including a bachata remake of the classic Ben E. King song “Stand by Me,” which catapulted the crooner into a bigger spotlight.
Artist: Carla Morrison
Album: Déjenme Llorar (Let Me Cry)
Songs: "Maleza" (Undergrowth), "Eres Tú"
Latin Grammy-wining Carla Morrison hails from Tecate, Mexico, and has become a rising star in music thanks to her powerful and penetrating love ballads resonating with fans in the U.S., Mexico and beyond. The Latin alternative singer/songwriter began her career performing in small bands, but eventually went solo and started earning rave reviews for her unique style, voice and relatable lyrics. Morrison’s music has connected with a young generation of music fans, especially women, who appreciate her melodic style that accompany heartfelt lyrics.
Garcetti asks DC for help with expensive LA River revitalization project
The LA River snakes through 52 miles of Southern California.
Along most of its path from Ventura County to Long Beach it's guided by concrete, but it wasn't always this way. Before it was covered in concrete, the riverside was green and home to an abundance of plants and wildlife.
RELATED: Mayor Eric Garcetti heads to DC seeking public transit, river funding
This week, Mayor Eric Garcetti is making the pitch to make it that way again. He's been in Washington, DC to ask the White House for help on giving the L.A. River a makeover. It's a plan that could cost more than $1 billion.
For a look at the history of the river, and what could change for the people and wildlife along its route, we're joined by KPCC's Patt Morrison, author of the book "Rio LA: Tales from the Los Angeles River."
Then, KPCC Washington correspondent Kitty Felde joins the show with more on Garcetti's efforts in DC.
'Candy' examines our love-hate relationship with sweets (excerpt)
| Listen to kids review candy | Read an excerpt from the book |
Americans have a complicated relationship with sweets.
Candy is a source of pleasure and pain, if you consider the problems with obesity in this country. So in advance of Halloween we’ll take a look at the candy complex in the U.S. with Rutgers professor Samira Kawash, author of the book, "Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure."
Interview Highlights:
Q: Tell us about "The Jellybean Incident," which you refer to in your book:
"I have one daughter and she is 10 now, but when she was about three we were just starting to experiment with candy a little bit so we were going over to a friend's house and she really wanted to share her jellybeans with her friend. And I asked her friend's mother if that would be alright, if we shared a little jellybean treat.
"Then the dad kind of shoots me this glare and says, 'Well, next thing you know you are going to be giving them crack.' And I thought, 'Well, gee. That seems like a kind of strong reaction.' But I felt a lot of doubt because I thought, 'Am I a bad mother if I am letting my little 3-year-old have these jellybeans?'
Q: What do you think is behind this strong adverse reaction to candy?:
"I think that everyone of us carries with us this seed of fear when it comes to candy. When I started exploring what that fear was about, it seems to me that it had a lot of dimensions that were not simply about the substance of the candy because look at those jellybeans. Yeah, they have sugar and they have color, but look at everything else we eat. Except for my farmer's market breakfast, everything else has sugar and color and chemicals. Yet, we seem to pour all of our anxieties about food and all of our worries about food's harm onto to this one little substance. Now, when that happens it is called scapegoating."
Q: So is candy considered a food?
"That is one of the interesting questions that I ended up discovering in the course of my research. Because it turns out that the major project that candy manufacturer's had to accomplish in the first part of the 20th century is to persuade people that is food. Luckily there was a way of thinking about food in nutrition that became popular in the early 20th century that made that very easy and that was the notion that food was simple chemicals and they were proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
"Candy, too, is mostly carbohydrates and some fats and a little protein from the nuts and the milk and so forth. So candy makers were able to point to the elements of their candy and say, 'You see? This has exactly the same nutrients as other kinds of food and therefore candy is food like those other kinds of food and, in fact, it has benefits.' It is compact, it is inexpensive, it is quick energy and the real flourishing of candy in the era between the first World War and the second World War really was this embrace of candy as a new easy kind of eating that would give you fast energy and keep you going for a new kind of modern living.
Q: Tell us about the full page ad from 1928 that asked 'Do you eat enough candy?'
"In 1926 it was a scientifically plausible question to be asking. There were critics to be sure, but the U.S. Government had published a very important pamphlet called 'Sugar as food.' And this is an era that is just coming out of the notion of undernourishment and food shortage. There were a lot of these sort of celebrities endorsements of the day where like athletes would talk about how their endurance was enhanced by candy and mountain climbers that talked about how that last push to the top of the mountain was made possible with candy. So there was a real sense that if you wanted to get something done, you needed sugar. And candy was a great way to get your sugar.
Q: How has marketing for candy played on gender roles?
"It is the case that candy throughout the 20th century has really been associated with different ideas about gender. Going back to the 19th century there was really an idea that candy was for women and children who were sweet and sugar was sweet and candy was kind of a trivial, unimportant sweet thing that did not really matter too much. That really changed in the early 20th century when this new idea of sugar as food for energy became popular and candy was seen as an important source of energy.
"The first to really introduce candy and embrace candy as energy food was the military, and it was German military experiments with candy as fortification for troops that first broached this notion that candy was good for energy. And so by the time you get to the period between the first and second World War, there is this explosion in candy bars and it is really the golden era of the candy bar. There were over ten thousand different kinds of candy bars introduced in this era."
Q: What do you hand out for Halloween?
"Candy. I mean seriously, do you think there is any kid trick-or-treating who wants anything except candy? And I might feel better if I handed out pretzels, but that is for grown-ups and the kids want the candy. Telling our kids that candy is bad and they cannot have it and they should not have it, it just sets them up to go out and sneak the candy in the bushes with their friends after school. To me, I think it is better to teach our kids to treat candy with respect. To know what it is, to figure out a way to enjoy it sensibly and not to make it into this gigantic, powerful, scary, frightening monster that our culture has sometimes done."
Take Two's Candy Taste-Testing Panel
Excerpt from the book "Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure"
Christmas creep: Holiday arrives before Halloween at some SoCal stores (poll)
Trick-or-treaters are getting their costumes ready and jack-o-lanterns are on the porch. And, yet, while no one's handed out Halloween candy yet, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. KPCC's Wendy Lee says the holiday retail season is up and running.
Lakers open season with expanded coverage on Time Warner Cable Deportes
The Lakers and the Clippers open their regular seasons on Tuesday, facing each other at Staples Center, tonight on TNT. This season, most Lakers games will be carried by "Time Warner Cable Sports Net" and "Time Warner Cable Deportes."
KPCC's Brian Watt reports on the effort to beef up Spanish language coverage.
How games can make you more creative and motivated at work
It's always a challenge to get other people to do what you want them to do. You can turn to the old carrot-or-stick approach, or you could also try using games.
It's a tactic that draws on the basics of human psychology, and now everyone from your employer to the makers of your smartphone are putting it into practice.
Adam Penenberg, author of "Play at Work: How Games Inspire Breakthrough Thinking" talks about the spread of games in our society, from those little sandwich punch cards to the touch screens at the gas station.