The fire blazing along the border of Anaheim and Corona, sampling the DNA of Redwoods and Sequoias in an effort to save them, dinos and other random CA mascots.
The GOP calls it the "Succeed Act," but it's basically DACA 2.0.
There's a new immigration bill in the Senate, and we can probably just call it "DACA 2.0."
Yesterday, Republican Sens. Thom Tillis, James Lankford, and Orrin Hatch introduced the SUCCEED Act, which they hope can replace the program that protects young people brought to this country illegally by their parents.
"It, in theory, should cover people who are already enrolled in the DACA program. And then some," said Politico reporter Seung Min Kim in an interview with KPCC's Josie Huang.
In her reporting, Kim found that there's bipartisan support for immigration reform -- and DACA recipients are among the most sympathetic of immigrants who entered the US illegally. So while there are conservatives who want to see these people become citizens, they want that path to be conservative in principle.
"They really want to prioritize fairness," Kim said. "And, you know, Republican senators strive to do that by actually creating a pathway to citizenship that is long, that is arduous, but that is definitely possible."
To hear the full interview and learn more about the SUCCEED Act and its departures from the DACA program, use the blue media player above.
An earlier presidential primary would hand California Democrats more political power
California Governor Jerry Brown will decide the fate of several important bills ahead of the Oct. 15 deadline. Among them: legislation that would allow California to cut in line during the next presidential primary.
The state's June primary has often come too late to have much influence over the direction of the race. The bill before Governor Brown would move our voting date up three months to March. However, the move isn't without its critics: The legislation passed both houses on a party-line vote.
"I think they have two concerns," says Louis DeSipio, professor of political science at UC Irvine. "California leans Democratic, and Republicans in the state probably don't want Democrats to have a disproportionate voice in selecting one of the party nominees."
He adds that Republicans might have a more practical concern:
"This bill would also move the primary date forward for other statewide races so it would extend the election season by several months," DeSipio says. "That means officeholders and candidates would be spending more of their time campaigning and less of their time governing."
Press the blue play button above to hear about how California's previous attempts to move up the primary fared.
2,000 acres burned and counting...
A canyon fire is burning on the border between the cities of Anaheim and Corona, causing an off-ramp closure on the eastbound 91 freeway this morning. The fire started Monday afternoon and has burned more than 2,000 acres, prompting evacuations in the area.
Firefighters will remain on this fire all night, mopping up & protecting homes. pic.twitter.com/15GljncEqz
— OCFA PIO (@OCFireAuthority) September 26, 2017
For the latest, Josie Huang spoke to Captain Steve Concialdi with the Orange County Fire Authority, who was on the scene.
"It's a joint effort with a number of agencies," Concialdi said. "We're still in unified command with Orange County Fire Authority, Anaheim Fire Department, Cal Fire, United States Forest Service and Corona Fire Department." At the time of the interview, the Orange County Fire Authority was reporting a 5 percent containment of the blaze.
"We just want to make sure we get this fire under control. The perimeter is locked down, we have a line around it. We have nine helicopters and nine six wing planes that will be assigned to this fire today. As well as hundreds of firefighters, we're still calculating all the firefighters that are out here."
To hear about evacuation areas and the investigation to figure out the fire's cause, click the blue play button above.
DNA sampling may save sequoias and redwoods
Head into the wilds of California and you'll be struck by the grandeur of two of the state's most iconic trees – the coast redwood and the giant sequoia. Both types of tree have grown for hundreds of years, but their future might be in jeopardy because of deforestation and climate change.
That's where scientists are stepping in with an ambitious project that's sampling their DNA. Take Two welcomed one of that project's leaders, Steve Salzberg, a professor of biomedical engineer at Johns Hopkins University.
Hear how the DNA needs to be collected by a tree climber. Use the blue audio player above.
Quiz: How well do you know California's obscure state symbols?
While California lawmakers are waiting for Governor Brown to sign a stack of bills into law, one such bill has managed to make it past his desk. The Augustynolophus morrisi bill declares California's first official dinosaur.
It turns out, California has dozens of these "official state fill-in-the-blanks" and some appear to be kind of random such as our state lichen (hint: rock moss is a type of lichen).
So, what's the point of having an official, written-in-law, list of state symbols?
It's mostly about celebrating what is uniquely characteristic to California. That's why some of them are more obvious and well known. For example, the state animal is the California Grizzly Bear and the state flower is the Golden Poppy because both are distinctly Californian.
Some of the more confusing items are the state amphibian, prehistoric artifact gold rush ghost town, silver rush ghost town, tall ship and, state fife and drum band, just to name a few.
Take our mini-quiz, "Official or Artificial?" and test your knowledge of California's state symbols. And when you're done, check out the full list of California state designations. (No peeking beforehand!)
If you think California is missing an important state symbol, you can submit your suggestion to your local assemblymember or state senator.
To hear Take Two's Josie Huang and Julia Paskin play "Official or Artificial," click on the media player above.
Access to clean public bathrooms could be the key to flushing out Hepatitis A
LA County declared an outbreak of Hepatitis A last week when two homeless people contracted the disease.
It's usually transmitted when a person comes into contact with objects or food contaminated by the feces of an infected person, and that might be more likely in a place like LA's Skid Row.
There are just nine public bathrooms serving the more-than 1,700 people who live there without a roof over their heads-- or indoor plumbing to call their own.
Ricky Bluthenthal, a professor of preventive medicine at USC, found that not having bathrooms can lead to a laundry list of health problems among that population.
"Wound botulism is one. You can get sepsis. Abscesses. Skin and soft tissue infections," said Bluthenthal in an interview with Take Two host, A Martínez.
But Bluthenthal also found that public restroom access is a slippery issue when it comes to serving homeless populations. People may use illicit drugs in the bathrooms, or even take the bathrooms over altogether and prevent others from using them. And even if there are bathrooms for people to use, that doesn't always mean they're going to be clean.
Bluthenthal has found that shelters will offer clean places to shower and go to the bathroom, but there aren't enough shelters for everybody to use all the time. Mobile hygiene units can also attend to the bathrooms, and reduce the risk of fecal contamination.
"In the short term, figuring out ways for people to be safer and cleaner completely makes sense," said Bluthenthal. "And then, the other piece is, you know really engaging with the structural determinants of homelessness, and working on putting in place both the housing pieces and the social support pieces and the medical support that people need to come in from the outdoors in the long term. That would be valuable as well."
The key to all this? For Bluthenthal, there's no way forward if there's no political will.
"If we engage with the [homeless] population, recognizing that there's diversity, they're going to be open to a variety of solutions. We can solve this before it gets any worse," said Bluthenthal. "But certainly, I don't want to see a situation where it gets worse and worse, and then there's some sort of crazy, most-likely-to-be draconian, response to it."
To hear the full interview and learn more about the relationship between public health and public restrooms, use the blue media player above.
Tuesday Reviewsday - new music from Ali Stone and Jorge Drexler
If you don't have the time to keep up with the latest in new music, we've got the perfect solution for you: Tuesday Reviewsday.
Every week our music experts come in to talk about the best new tunes in one short segment. This week, Billboard's associate editor of Latin and Special Features,
join A Martinez with his picks.
Ali Stone
Album: Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense)
Songs: “El Lado Oscuro” (The Dark Side) and "Asilo" (Asylum)
Alicia Gómez, known professionally as Ali Stone, is a music producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and Columbian DJ recently named by Billboard as one of the five new artists to watch on 2016.
She now also adds her first full studio album to her resume, "Sexto Sentido." The album is a 12-track set, which illustrates her upbeat DJ chops and also her ability to belt out pop songs with universal appeal.
The song "El Lado Oscuro" have a strong pop-rock sound, but she presents an entirely different set of skills with the pop ballad, "Obsesión."
Jorge Drexler
Album: Salvavidas de Hielo (Life Jackets of Ice)
Songs: "Salvavidas de Hielo" (feat. Natalia Lafourcade) and "Asilo" (Asylum) (feat. Mon Laferte)
Uruguayan singer/songwriter Jorge Drexler is perhaps best known for the song "Al Oro Lado del Rio," from the film, "Motorcycle Diaries," which won an Oscar for best original song in 2004 (presented by none other than Prince).
His latest album, "Salvavidas de Hielo," (Life Jackets of Ice) was recorded in Mexico City and Madrid and his latest production is a pop album, but also much more than that because here he offers a well conceived experimental album with that uses effects such as loops, beats and samples in the best possible way in addition to having the guitar be a big part of this album.
His song "Abracadabras" with Julieta Venegas is a sexy cool samba sound that works in the most endearing way. The title song "Salvavidas de Hielo" with Natalia Lafourcade is beautiful and "Asilo" with Chilean singer Mon Laferte is heartfelt and perfectly melancholic.