On Thursday, Take Two sits down with Steve Ballmer to talk about his new role as Clippers owner. Then, we'll discuss an effort to bring attention to the Valley's art scene, why food allergies are on the rise and what's next for California's plan allowing undocumented immigrants to qualify for drivers licenses.
Steve Ballmer: Clippers have 'greater opportunity' to be No. 1 franchise
Steve Ballmer, the former head of Microsoft is now the official owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
As most people will remember, he paid a whopping $2 billion for the team, but despite the price, and the winning record of the team… many Southern Californians consider the Clippers the number two team in town.
Ballmer sat down and talked to KPCC's Ben Bergman Wednesday at the Clippers practice facility in Playa Vista about the new owner's plans since the $2-billion sale and if he can change Los Angeles' perception about the team:
Steve Ballmer: Obviously we extended Doc Rivers’ contract, which is fantastic. We have been busy looking to flush out the rest of staff on the business side. There was some churn as a result of the clutter last year, as Doc calls it. People are trying to educate me what does it mean to give fans in the arena and on TV a great experience. Trying to get a budget squared now that the team is transferred. That tells us what we can invest and go do. Obviously, the team has been working hard getting in shape, getting ready to go.
Ben Bergman: You for the first time in your professional life are not involved with Microsoft. What is that like after 34 years of having that company largely define you?
SB: Well, I was in this building when I sent my note to the CEO and the board that said I’m leaving the board. I was actually here I think it was the day after the fan rally I sent the note. There was sort of like a ‘Whoo, this is weird.” But, it is weird when you’ve done something so long. I’m as dedicated to Microsoft as I’ve ever been. I’m the largest individual shareholder. I love the place. I believe in it. But I did notice this feels a little different — not all good. I love [Microsoft].
BB: The Clippers sale price, a lot of people found eye-popping. Was it more of a post-retirement hobby, which you are certainly entitled to, or a business decision?
SB: Will I make a better return on the capital I put into the Clippers than I would if I put into something else in the market. I feel very good that it will be a good investment. Could you make a better investment with higher risk? Yes, you could. Some people think I overpaid. Well, I guarantee it there’s no downside risk. I don’t think I over. I feel very good about the price. We know the next bidder bid 10 percent less than I did. So, the max I could have “overpaid” is 10 percent given where the market is.
BB: This is, as you know, still a Lakers’ town. Do you expect it to one day be a Clippers’ town?
SB: What I want to do is make the Clippers the best team in the whole NBA, not just in the part in the NBA that’s south of San Francisco and west of Phoenix. I want to be the best in the whole country. We’ll work really hard at that. I certainly see a lot of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin jerseys running around on kids here in LA. We’ll be fine.
We’re going to be a great team. We’re going to have a lot of fans. After the fan rally, I got much email. I got a lot of email from Clipper fans, from other fans in Los Angeles. But, I got a lot of mail from Clipper fans outside the LA area. I think Clippers have a greater opportunity to be the No. 1 franchise in basketball than almost anybody.
BB: I was going to ask you about that because you gave out your email at the fan rally. Have you been checking that account?
SB: I have been less diligent in response than I probably should have been, but I’ve read every piece of email that’s come in.
BB: And you’re still going to be living in Seattle, how much will we be seeing you at games?
SB: Quite a bit. I still have one of my kids still in high school. I’m a dutiful and serious parent, as well. But, I should make quite a few games.
BB: Are you going to be as boisterous at the games as you were at the rally?
SB: The show is on the court. I’m an energetic human being and an energetic personality, but the show is really on the court. We’ll watch our team do great things.
Vets using medical marijuana could lose VA prescriptions
In Arizona, medical marijuana has been legal since 2010.
But, veterans being treated at the Veterans Health Administration can’t use medical marijuana along with their other pain medicines, reports Alexandra Olgin, of KJZZ in Arizona.
That could have some serious consequences for some veterans.
Read the full story: Vets Using Medical Marijuana Could Lose VA Prescriptions
Islamic scholars issue letter detailing why militant ideology violates religious law
The U.S. unleashed a new round of airstrikes against ISIS in eastern Syria late yesterday, targeting a dozen small oil refineries.
The group of militants operating in Iraq and Syria refers to itself as the Islamic State, but are they truly following the tenets of Islam?
Most definitely not, according to a group of Islamic scholars and Muslim leaders in the U.S. and abroad.
They have issued an open letter in Arabic and English refuting the ideology of the militant group, signed by more than 120 scholars and groups, including The Council on American-Islamic Relations and The Fiqh Council of North America.
Addressed directly to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic State, and the group's followers, the letter lays out the case for why killing "emissaries," such as diplomats and journalists, is forbidden in Islam.
"You have mercilessly killed the journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff even after Sotloff's mother pleaded with you and begged for mercy," the scholars write in the letter. "Aid workers are also emissaries of mercy and kindness, yet you killed the aid worker David Haines. What you have done is unquestionably forbidden (haraam)."
For more, Nihad Awad, executive director with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, spoke to Take Two.
Read the full 29-page letter here.
'Valley Vista' art exhibit argues the Valley is no 'cultural wasteland'
Mention the "the Valley" and, for many, what comes to mind is suburban sprawl, fast-food joints, mini-malls, and "Valley girls."
A vibrant art scene? Not so much.
That all may change thanks to a new book and art exhibit titled "Valley Vista: Art in the San Fernando Valley, ca. 1970-1990" from art historian and Loyola Marymount University associate professor Damon Willick.
In the book, Willick argues that artists in the San Fernando Valley made important contributions to Los Angeles's art history. And the fact that the artists were overlooked for so long, he explains, actually allowed them more freedom to express themselves in innovative ways.
"That freedom that a lot of the Valley artist describe," he says "is the same freedom that Los Angeles in general has always had for artists. This isn't Manhattan where you have all the artists living in the same neighborhood, they have to go far and wide to find each other. But that freedom and space allows them to experiment, to not follow dogma and trends, and to create really remarkable works of art."
The "Valley Vista" exhibition runs through October 11 at California State University, Northridge.
Wheel Thing: Automakers examine future of reducing carbon emissions
As world leaders debate how to best reduce carbon emission and its effect on global warming, auto company executives have radically changed their attitude about their role in reducing their company's carbon footprint, according to car and motorcycle critic Susan Carpenter.
At the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica last week, Ford said the future of their business extends beyond fuel-efficient vehicles.
“They’re also looking at services like car sharing. They’re understanding that with more cars on the road you have more gridlock,” Carpenter said. "How do you combat that?"
Ford has partnered with ZipCar, which allows its members to make hourly or daily car reservations of its vehicles. General Motors has partnered with Relay Ride, which allows car owners to rent out their vehicles when they aren’t using them.
Attorney General Eric Holder to step down after six years
President Barack Obama is expected to announce Attorney General Eric Holder will resign after six years in the office. The news was first reported by NPR this morning.
Holder's tenure has been marked by some significant stumbles at the Justice Department, including the botched weapons sting, otherwise known as "Operation Fast and Furious."
But, more recently, he's devoted his efforts to increased benefits for same-sex married couples and other civil rights issues.
For more on his career we are joined by the Washington Post's Elahe Izadi.
John Ridley new film 'Jimi: All is by My Side' explores artist's complex life
Send My Love To Linda by Jimi Hendrix
The YouTube video above is a song by Jimi Hendrix called "Sending All My Love to Linda." The Linda in question was Linda Keith, girlfriend of Rolling Stone Keith Richards. In May of 1966, she and some friends went to a Manhattan bar called the Cheetah club where she watched a band.
The band was OK, she thought, but she was blown away by Hendrix, the back up guitarist who played his right-handed guitar left-handed, upside down and strung backwards.
Keith went on to play a pivotal role in Jimi Hendrix's career. Their relationship is the inspiration for the new film "Jimi: All is by My Side," written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley, best known for his work with "12 Years a Slave.
Ridley says the movie is a brief, uncensored look at the late artist's life.
"I think we've all seen versions of stories where they're sanitized, and you know there's more to that person there," Ridley said. "I never wanted it to be an official version of the story; I wanted it to hopefully be a story that showed the complex nature of it."
State of Affairs: Minimum wage increase for LA’s hotel workers, Neel Kashkari's gas card campaign stunt
This week on State of Affairs, KPCC's politics reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze spoke about a tentative decision to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers in Los Angeles and Neel Kashkari's gas card giveaway in Burbank.
Minimum wage hike for L.A.'s hotels: What's the deal?
Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to raise the minimum wage for the non-union hotel workers. The increase would only apply to hotels that have at least 150 rooms. Both tipped and non-tipped employees would make the $15.37 an hour wage.
The new wage was strongly opposed by hotel associations. If it gets final approval next week, the wage hike would be implemented July 1, 2015 and affect about 1,300 employees. The hike would not be phased in.
Neel Kashkari's gas card giveaway in Burbank
California governor-hopeful Neel Kashkari made a campaign stop in Burbank on Wednesday, encouraging people to smash toy trains with a hammer before handing out $25 gas cards.
Kashkari's stunt was centered on his opposition to high-speed rail, which Gov. Jerry Brown sees as part of his legacy to California.
Is it legal to give out gas cards considering he's running for office? Officials on Kashkari's campaign said attorneys signed off on the event beforehand, and that it was likened it to giving out a hot dog.
California DMV prepares for wave of undocumented immigrants seeking licenses
Undocumented immigrants living in California will be able to sign-up for a driver's license starting January 2015.
The DMV estimates almost 1.5 million people will apply for one over the next three years.
KPCC's Josie Huang explains how the state is getting ready for the surge in new applicants.
Read the full story: California DMV hiring 900 to serve immigrant drivers
Fresh water runs through creeks that once ran dry
The 6.0 earthquake that struck Napa Valley in August left buildings, roads and livelihoods in disrepair. It's estimated economic losses from the quake could top $1 billion.
But, it's not all bad news, writes The California Reports' Pauline Bartolone. In a creek bed that was near-dry just four weeks ago in Green Valley, water is flowing.
Read the full story: Napa Quake Supplies Fresh Water to Small Community
How will California’s Drought relief funds be spent?
The Department of Water Resources announced this week that the first $200 million would be distributed from a $687 million drought relief package.
KPCC's environment reporter Molly Peterson says the money will be distributed in three installments. The final decision on how to spend that first installment is expected by Oct. 31. More than half of the funds will be coming to Southern California, with about $59 million slated for Los Angeles.
Some of that money will be put towards groundwater wells. In addition, much of the money will help with clean up and management.
“What’s interesting is L.A. is going to partner with the Burbank Department of Water and Power to make it so that they can transfer water from location to location, so that if somebody’s got pumps that are running a little bit better than somebody else’s pumps, we can pass water back and forth throughout that part of the valley,” Peterson said.
Closing San Onofre: Storing radioactive material a 'daunting challenge'
Closing the San Onofre nuclear plant in Southern California was supposed to cost $3.9 billion.
It turns out that estimate may be too low. Now, Southern California Edison estimates the tab will be closer to $4.4 billion.
David Lockbaum is a nuclear engineer who once worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He's now the director of the nuclear safety program for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The major reason for the huge price tag for dismantling the plant is that they're dealing with radioactive material and toxic chemicals that need to be treated extremely carefully, Lockbaum said. That extra care comes at a price.
Since the federal government has not provided a storage site for the nuclear waste that will be removed from the San Onofre plant — a site they began looking for decades ago — part of the plan had to include on-site storage for the waste.
"The continued storage on site for decades into the future...is built into the cost structure," says Lockbaum.
And, storing waste that remains radioactive for at least 10,000 years can be tricky.
"That's really the prime reason why the federal government hasn't been able to find a repository," Lockbaum says. "That location must be secure and contain the material from the environment for at least 10,000 years."
"For a country that's about 300 years old, projecting into the future 10,000 years is a daunting challenge," he said.
Dominic West and the unusual alliances in "Pride"
The new film, "Pride," is based largely on a true story about an atypical alliance in England three decades ago.
In 1984, British coal miners went on strike over the closure of 75 pits. It impacted everyone in the country in one way or another and almost brought the country to its knees.
The miners, themselves, were vilified and struggling financially. The lesbian and gay community also faced the public's scorn at the time. They sympathized with the miners' fight, and so they banded together with striking miners in one small town in Wales to find common ground.
"This was a group who were suffering from the prejudices of others and managed not to have any prejudices about each other," says actor Dominic West, who stars as gay activist Jonathan Blake, one of the people who teamed up with the miners.
For the role, West traveled to London to meet the real Jonathan Blake, who is living today with HIV.
"He said how he had a sense of despair at the time, and how this cause of the miners gave him something else to think about, something else to fight for that was nothing about him," West said.
"Pride" debuts in select U.S. theaters today.