How CA's open gate policy may be changing, the Santa Monica incline reopens after 17 months of construction, 'See Jane Go' the new ride-hailing service exclusively for women.
A Tale of two Trumps in Mexico and Arizona
Appearances in Mexico and Arizona on Wednesday brought Americans a tale of two Trumps.
In an unexpected move, Donald Trump traveled to Mexico City to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto. He was noticeably subdued in a joint speech with Peña Nieto — his typical animation was no where to be found. Talking points for the two included NAFTA, and immigration.
Republican strategist Mike Madrid said this brought legitimacy to his campaign for a moment.
"You started to begin to see, OK wait a second, maybe this candidacy is going to shift into a more reasonable, more level-headed approach to not only foreign policy, but to the candidacy itself," he said. "I think most of the media was suggesting that that was the case too. And literally within three or four hours, you saw a complete pivot back to the red-meat obsession with immigration that has defined this campaign."
Trump arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, within those few hours, fired up about his 10-point plan on immigration. In his speech, Trump highlighted calls for the building of his infamous wall, and an "extreme vetting" process. He's been accused in recent days of flip-flopping his stance on immigration, and Madrid isn't sure that either of these appearances clarified Trump's position.
"I think there may have been a little bit of clarity if anybody was actually looking for some substance on the policy issues, but again I think most people were kind of perplexed from the beginning. This whole event was billed for weeks as a major policy announcement, and it really did take on the characteristics of a typical Trump rally."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
What a bus trip through 11 key states says about the presidential election
Imagine getting on a Greyhound bus in Philadelphia and heading west, stopping in 11 states in two weeks and talking with fellow passengers along the way.
The topic of conversation? This season's heated presidential election - and the issues important to each person along the way.
"We really wanted to get past the pundits and the media narratives driving the day and get out and sit and talk to actual voters," said Esmé Deprez, reporter at Bloomberg News, who embarked on the trip along with photographer M. Scott Brauer and posted profiles and interviews with people along the way. The two interviewed 100 people during a journey that captured a slice of the country often left out of the political dialogue – auto mechanics and artists, immigrants with documents and without, farmers and felons.
The results are enlightening and shed light on how things could play out come November.
"Everyone has their own story and their own reasons why they vote the way they do and we can't truly understand this election unless we sit down and listen," said Deprez.
Check out all of Esmé Deprez' posts at America by Bus: Understanding America's Election on a 3,000 mile Road Trip
A Nation Engaged: Examining the fiscal impact of immigration
Immigration has become a pivotal theme in this election season. It's one that touches on all sorts of complex and controversial issues. But for many Americans, feelings about immigrants boil down to the bottom line.
Many immigrants rights activists point to all the economic contributions made by those who come to this country from elsewhere. Opponents say immigrants rob citizens of jobs and drain our resources.
As part of the NPR series 'A Nation Engaged', KPCC examines the fiscal impact of immigration and how that shapes our view on the topic.
Guests:
- Erika Lee, director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota
- Kevin Johnson, dean of the School of Law at UC Davis.
Highlights
How important do you think immigrant labor is here in California? What would we do without it?
Kevin Johnson: It's incredibly important to the California economy. Agriculture, the service industries, and the construction industry as well. And if we did not have immigrant labor to keep wages flat and relatively low, we could see increased costs for things like food, produce, restaurants, hotels and childcare. It would have reverberations throughout our entire economy.
Over 10 percent of our workforce in California is estimated to be undocumented. Economists will tell you in their studies that immigrants overall benefit the US economy. They contribute more to its growth than they take away in terms of costs, but when you hear many people talking about the cost of immigration, they often don't include the dollars and cents benefits of immigration.
Yesterday, Donald Trump made a speech in Phoenix where he talked a fair bit about immigration. He said this:
Kevin Johnson, several numbers were thrown out there, including that $113 billion dollar figure that came from a report done by Federation for American Immigration Reform. What should people and voters bear in mind when they hear Trump use a number like that?
What's not included in his citation of costs is the benefits to the American economy in contributions of immigrant labor: how much more is produced, how much more is spent by immigrants paid in the United States.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform is an organization worth noting. They are committed to closing the borders, a moratorium on immigration, they have expressed concern about non-white non-English speakers immigrating to the United States, and they are ardently committed to restrictionist immigration laws, so I'm not sure that's an academic study of any kind; it's more of an advocacy document by an advocacy organization seeking to change the tenor of the debate on immigration.
Let's turn now to what life is like from the immigrant's point of view. Sometimes building a new life in the US can be incredibly challenging. Last fall, as Syrian refugees began trickling into the US, 31 governors stated bluntly these immigrants weren't welcome in their states. Since then, more than 1000 new Syrian refugees have arrived in California.
Erika Lee, America used to be seen as this land that was so welcoming to people. Where do you think we stand now in 2016 in the rest of the world's eyes concerning who we let in and who we don't.
I would say that that reputation of America being a nation of immigrants is at risk. On the other hand, we do have to remember that our history is one of welcoming immigrants, but excluding certain groups for generations. We can point to the series of Asian exclusion laws that banned almost every Asian immigrant group up through World War Two. When European Jews needed us the most, we closed our doors. This, frankly, very small number of Syrian refugees that President Obama committed to resettling — 10,000 — is just a drop in the bucket. Canda has already resettled 25,000, and we know Germany has already resettled one million.
If we want to really live up to our ideals of welcoming strangers to the United States, it's time that we really act on those sentiments.
Press the blue play button above to hear more about the fiscal impact of immigration on America.
(Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Series: A Nation Engaged
NPR and KPCC's coverage of critical issues facing the nation before November's presidential election. The stories seek to build a nationwide conversation around focusing on a specific question each time.
Read more in this series and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on Facebook.
Bills pass and die, a deal on cap and trade, and the 'Trump Effect' in CA
On this week's State of Affairs, do or die for hundreds of bills in Sacramento, a down to the wire deal on cap and trade spending, and Donald Trump's down ballot effect in California.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Ben Adler, Capital Public Radio's Capitol Bureau Chief
- Melanie Mason, state government and politics reporter for The Los Angeles Times
The White House has a plan, but can the Salton Sea be saved?
Yesterday, President Obama was at Lake Tahoe, speaking at an annual summit on conservation efforts for the lake.
He talked about how protecting natural resources is a key part of the fight against the effects of global warming -- and an important fight for the local economy.
During his remarks, President Obama briefly mentioned ANOTHER big lake that's in trouble: the Salton Sea.
The body of water in the Coachella Valley is the largest lake in California.
And, thanks to the drought, it's been in major danger of disappearing for years.
Yesterday, White House announced efforts to fund preservation efforts at the Salton Sea.
To help us break down the plan, Take Two's A Martinez was joined by Sammy Roth, who's been covering this for the Desert Sun.
To hear the full conversation click the blue player above.
To hear KPCC's conversation with a member of California Natural Resources Agency, click here
See Jane Go launches in OC with women-only ride hail service
Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are tremendously popular. In the L.A. area alone, there are almost 100,000 people offering rides through those two companies, yet only 17 percent of their drivers are women.
This weekend, a new company hopes to change that. See Jane Go, based in Laguna Hills, will offer rides for women by women as early as Labor Day weekend. Launching in Orange County, the service will expand to Los Angeles within two months followed by an aggressive national rollout, said See Jane Go chief executive, Kimberly Toonen.
“I don’t know that I’d ever be comfortable driving because I don’t know who I’d be picking up, and I don’t know that I’d be comfortable riding because there’s this discomfort factor, and we just can’t ignore that,” said Toonen, who signed on as CEO after hearing stories of young women asking to be dropped off blocks from their homes to avoid male drivers knowing where they live.
See Jane Go operates in a similar manner to Uber and Lyft, except the drivers and passengers are women. If a male requests a ride, he needs to be hosted by an accompanying female. If there is no accompanying female, he will be accommodated with a ride through another ride-hail service arranged through See Jane Go.
Like Uber and Lyft, passengers request a ride through an app, and a driver then picks them up. Toonen estimates the wait time will be 10-12 minutes once the app goes live. Pricing is comparable to other ride-hail services, she said.
See Jane Go will launch once 400 drivers have been approved for the service. To work for See Jane Go, drivers have to pass a criminal background check. If they have ever had a DUI, they are automatically disqualified. Their cars must be 11 years old or less, have four doors and pass a 28-point inspection.
“I am excited to drive at a later time to pick up women passengers,” said Desiree Arroyo, a current Uber driver who will begin driving for See Jane Go once the app goes live in a few days. “Currently, I do not drive past 10 p.m. for my own safety reasons. I feel that the later you drive, there’s nothing good going on out there [with] the higher risk of picking up a male passenger that’s probably been drinking a little bit too much.”
Yvette Granados, of San Clemente, attended a Saturday event at See Jane Go’s Orange County headquarters to learn more about the passenger service for her daughter, who’s currently a student at Cal State Long Beach.
“I would not want her using a different company where she was going into a car with a random male that I didn’t know,” Granados said. “I’ve always said, ‘If you come into a situation, call me.’ I would rather have her call me to get her out of a situation. So I love this as an alternative for her.”
In addition to offering rides, See Jane Go seeks to differentiate itself based on hospitality. Passengers have the option of choosing silence, talking or music at the time they request a ride. The back seat will also be equipped with nail files and personal hygiene products.
“As women, we think about these details,” Toonen said.
Seeing the California Incline as a cultural landmark
The California Incline has been closed for construction for almost a year and a half.
Today, it reopens. The picturesque ramp connects Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica to the Pacific Coast Highway below.
The Incline was first built in 1896 and it opened to motor vehicles in 1905. The last time it was upgraded was in the 1930's.
"We got a full lifespan out of the 1930s improvement," said Lee Swain, Santa Monica city engineer.
Now, Swain says the California Incline is state-of-the-art. The ramp was also widened an additional 5.5 feet to include a separate bike lane and pedestrian walkway. The project to rebuild the Incline cost about $17 million, 90 percent of which came from federal funding. A $2 million project for a new pedestrian overpass on PCH was locally funded.
City officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning. There's a mini-festival on the ramp going on until 2 p.m. today for pedestrians. At 5 p.m., the first cars will roll on the Incline.
In many ways, the Incline is just a traffic ramp with a cool name, but in Southern California, sometimes roads are more than roads — they have cultural significance.
A Martinez spoke to writer David Ulin about the cultural significance of the California Incline.
Click the blue audio player to hear the full interview.
'Spectacular Illumination': A look back at LA's love affair with neon
In the 1930's LA looked a LOT different... in many ways, a lot brighter, more colorful. That's because when it came to advertising for local businesses, neon was king.
A new photography book called Spectacular Illumination tells the story of LA's golden age of neon. It was written and curated by photographer, Tom Zimmerman. He joined Take Two's Alex Cohen in studio to talk about L.A.'s history of neon lights.
Interview Highlights
Why do you think LA had such a particular affinity for neon?
"Cause they're so bright and you can twist the glass into virtually anything. So, it calls for creative glass makers in order to make these things. And once you do make them, by using different types of noble gases, you get different colors and then on top of it you can coat the sign itself, the glass and the sign with different colors so you can get any color of the rainbow on these things and typically that's what they did."
How was neon used back then - can you describe some of your favorite signs for us?
"Well the single greatest sign, I think in the history of Los Angeles, was on the Earl Caroll Theater, and it was a woman's face 25 feet high and around the edge of it said 'through these portals, past the most beautiful women in the world' and the Earl Caroll Theater was by far the finest sort of dinner type theater in the city. There was tons of neon inside the thing, once you went into it but the face of the woman is Beryl Wallace who was the director of the shows and so on at the Earl Caroll Theater. She was one of these great early heroines, her family had not two nickels to rub together. The father was very ill and couldn't support the family anymore. Beryl was 15 years old and rather than get a job in a factory making a quarter an hour somewhere, she got a job being a showgirl on the New York stage and she essentially saved her family."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.