Checking in on Mexico after the quake, helping those affected by Hurricane Irma, which cities in LA county have the most CA native born?

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Checking in on the state of Mexico after the 8.0 earthquake, the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the next edition of #SoCal SoCurious.

Checking in on Mexico after the quake, helping those affected by Hurricane Irma, which cities in LA county have the most CA native born?

Checking in on the state of Mexico after the 8.0 earthquake, the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the next edition of #SoCal SoCurious.

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Checking in on the state of Mexico after the 8.0 earthquake, the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the next edition of #SoCal SoCurious.

State of Affairs: CA Lawmakers react to DACA decision, Trump, Pelosi strike a deal

An earthquake, wildfires and yet another hurricane: they dominated the news. But there was also politics.   

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions set off a political shockwave in California after announcing a wind-down to DACA Tuesday. State lawmakers scrambled to protect Dreamers. 

https://youtu.be/4dL8QO0_7Bw?t=2m39s

It was a change expected by many. But then came one that few expected to hear: President Trump struck a debt ceiling deal with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvC9v_od2BM

This rare Kumbaya moment was soon followed by this tweet by the president, said to have been requested by Rep. Pelosi:

"First of all, Nancy gets — at least she got for 24 hours — a new BFF, Donald Trump," says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, professor of public policy at USC. She also tells Take Two's A Martinez that the move could have some future benefits.

"She — and by extension, the Congressional Democrats — got credit with a crucial constituency, the Latinos, for pushing back on Trump and making him clarify his moves on DACA. For the first time during the Trump Presidency, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have some significance, some real leverage in Washington," Jeffe says.

Press the blue play button above to hear more from Sherry Bebitch Jeffe as well as Politico's Carla Marinucci. 

That dog you see in public might not be a legit service animal

"No animals allowed here except service animals."

It's a sign that's becoming more and more common in Southern California – at grocery stores, restaurants, amusement parks and more.

But people might say their dog is a service animal just to abuse the system and bring it everywhere.

"You walk in a grocery store and it's full of cockapoos, malteses, pekingeses and all sorts of frou-frou dogs whose behavior isn't necessarily in line with what you expect from a service dog," says Outside magazine columnist Wes Siler, who recently wrote "Stop Faking Service Dogs."

It's enough of a problem that the American Kennel Club calls it an "epidemic," and describes how true service animals go through years of training.

Some are guide dogs, while others may help calm a person who suffers from PTSD.

The Americans with Disabilities Act permits them to enter any facility, and also protects their owner from harassment: it is illegal to ask for an animal's documentation.

"You don't want to be asking somebody with a disability to prove they have a disability day in, day out," says Siler.

But there is catch: that means any one can purchase an official-looking certificate or vest for their dog that says, "service animal."

Then when these untrained pets enter a space, that can cause real problems for legitimate service animals and disabled people.

"They're being burdened by a dog barking at theirs or distracting theirs, or generally creating an unwelcome environment for service dogs," says Siler.

He has a simple message for people who may be faking their service animal: leave your pet and home so that true service dogs can do their work.

"Just think of the harm that you're doing," he says. "The problem is that people are choosing to be jerks about this. They're being irresponsible for being bad dog owners."

Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.

Animals shelters, coming to a strip mall near you

Let's say you want to adopt a dog.

In Los Angeles, you'll have to head to a place nestled among factories and warehouses because that's where the zoning code says they can be: in industrial areas.

But that will soon change since the LA City Council voted this week to give pets a new leash on life.

"The city’s zoning was out of date because in the modern world, we should have animal rescues in commercial areas," says Councilman Bob Blumenfield.

He represents the west side of the Valley, and jumped to the cause when he heard about an animal rescue center in his area that was on the verge of closing because of its location in a mall.

The city, however, is in the middle of a multi-year push to make sure most stray animals are adopted, not euthanized. 

Blumenfield says that can be accomplished when shelters are located in more welcoming commercial districts. 

"It makes it much easier to adopt those pets and it makes it easier for the families that want to," he says, "and it keeps the issue of the need for rescues at the forefront of people’s minds because the rescues aren’t going to be in some obscure location."

The new ordinance would permit them to operate in commercial zones.

The LA City attorney now has until early November to draft up the final details of the law, and then the council will look it over for final approval.

So the next time you get groceries, you might be able to stop next door to pick up a new best friend, too.

7 things to do this weekend in SoCal

#SoCalSoCurious: Which cities in LA County have the fewest native-born Californians?

On SoCal So Curious, we answer your questions about how things work in Southern California – and why.

This question comes from a listener who identified himself as Mick. He asked, "Which cities in L.A. County have the fewest native-born Californians?"

Before we could answer ourselves, another intrepid KPCC listener, Brianne Gilbert, was on the case. Gilbert is the Associate Director of the Thomas and Dorothy Levy Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

She told Take Two she had been avidly following the SoCal SoCurious thread and when she came across this particular question, she thought to herself, "Well, that's an easy one. Anybody should be able to find that information!"

She crunched the numbers and mapped out her findings. Check out the map below. You can click on it to make it bigger, and it's color coded.

Gilbert figured it out faster than it might take to find a parking spot in Downtown L.A. 

Not a surprise, right? That's probably because as Angelenos, we know that people from all over come to live in a place like West Hollywood.

Gilbert's research also revealed which city in L.A. County had the most California-born residents. This result was a little surprising.

Well, with 92 percent of the city's zoning devoted to industrial business and just 8 percent to commercial, it's apparent why this might not be attracting too many out-of-state residents.

So, there you have it. Smack dab in the middle of L.A., in West Hollywood, you'll find the fewest California natives. In second place is Glendale, followed by Beverly Hills.

And if you drive about 45 minutes east, you'll find the opposite —the L.A. city with the most people who were born and raised in the Golden State. In second place for this category is Irwindale, followed by Whittier.

For more on how Gilbert did it and some other trends she discovered, click on the blue play button above.

Have a question you want KPCC journalists to investigate? Visit our SoCal SoCurious page.