This fall, the issue of same-sex marriage will appear on the ballot of four states: Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Why these states, and what are the chances of voters’ passing the measure?; We meet Aram Sahakian, the man who oversees special traffic operations and street closure for the Los Angeles' Department of Transportation, then, Corey Moore reports on what the Carmageddon construction project entails.; Jason Felch from the LA Times joins us to talk about his series on how the Boy Scouts failed to report sexual abuse to the police.; We’ll look at how new Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has changed the calculus of power in the region.; Author Davy Rothbart talks about his new collection of essays, “My Heart is an Idiot.”; After 19 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, John Edwards Smith walked out of Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail this week. He joins the show to talk about his ordeal.; A new book delves deeper into the life and career of photographer Ansel Adams.
Will voters legalize same-sex marriage elsewhere in the US?
Today, an appeals court will take up New York’s same-sex marriage law. It’s another example of the courts exerting influence over one of society’s most controversial issues.
But this fall, the issue of same-sex marriage will appear on the ballot of four states: Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.
So, why these states, and what are the chances of voters’ passing the measure? Same-sex marriage has failed at the polls more than 30 times before.
Guest:
Patrick Egan, political scientist from NYU who studies public opinion on same-sex marriage
New York court case brings DOMA back into the spotlight
It hasn't become a major issue in the presidential campaign, but the debate over same sex marriage continues to play out in the courts, and at the ballot box.
Today, lawyers for an 83-year-old woman are arguing a case in a Federal appeals court in New York that challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.
The law was passed by Congress in 1996, and signed into law by Bill Clinton. It denies federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and it gives individual states the right to refuse to recognize these marriages.
Guest:
Douglas NeJaime, law professor at Loyola Law School
‘Carmageddon 2’ accelerates plan for LA freeway improvements
We're one-day away from 'Carmageddon 2,' are you ready?
Around 7 p.m. tomorrow, crews will start shutting down ramps along the 405 freeway, northbound between the 10 and the 101, and southbound between the 101 and Getty Center Drive. Over the weekend, workers will demolish the north side of the Mulholland Bridge.
But as KPCC's Corey Moore reports, this weekend's work is just one small part of a much bigger project.
There’s been so much talk about ‘Carmageddon: the Sequel’ ... but we’re not just talking bridges here. Welcome to the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, a billion dollar plan to wipe out gridlock and spruce up the nation’s busiest highway.
RELATED: Click here to see more Carmageddon coverage
This stretch of the 405 is certainly due for a makeover — it was built about a half century ago, when there were millions fewer people living in, and driving around, the southland.
“It’s a great benefit to commuters, two more lanes to accommodate traffic and improving the capacity of on and off ramps,” said Metro spokesman Marc Littman, who called the undertaking a milestone during an interview with NBC4.
Most commuters would probably agree that you can’t add enough extra lanes to the 405 in the Sepulveda Pass. And the same goes for improving the area’s freeway ramps – especially the cluster of eight ramps at Wilshire Boulevard.
“Tens of thousands of freeway bound motorists travel here on a daily basis," said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro board member Zev Yaroslavsky, as he stood near the congested Wilshire-405 interchange recently.
Yaroslavsky said the ramp work — some call it “Ramp Jam,” some call it “Rampture” — will help traffic flow and make getting on and off the 405 safer. Work started on the first two ramps in June, and officials don’t expect to finish all eight until spring 2013.
LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl sits on the council’s transportation committee. He said people who travel through this interchange have to adjust to Ramp Jam.
“We have to carpool, we have to plan ahead, we have to put more time in our schedule," Rosendahl emphasized.
The Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project is a joint venture between Metro and Caltrans. The city of L.A., the state, and the federal government are jointly paying the billion-dollar bill.
So to review, we’re adding lanes to the 405, and we’re getting better on and off ramps. But wait, there’s more!
“I think this is one of the elements that is necessary to accomplish what we started to do which is adding the carpool lane from I-10 to 101," said Krishniah Murthy who oversees Metro’s construction projects.
Once the carpool lane extension is complete, the 70-mile straight shot along the 405, from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley, will be the longest carpool lane in the world.
“And so people who are traversing through the city of LA can choose the car pool lane and be out in a much quicker, faster way,” Murthy added.
Besides adding lanes, improving ramps, and extending the carpool lane, there is all of that bridge work. Project developers have revamped the Skirball Bridge and they just finished upgrading the Sunset Boulevard bridge, over the 405, after two years of work. The overpass — which reopened earlier this week — is 5-feet higher and 30-feet wider.
And finally there’s the work tearing down and rebuilding the Mulholland bridge — the operation that required last summer’s Carmageddon I, and the upcoming Carmageddon II. After this weekend’s demolition, it will take nearly a year to finish rebuilding the north side of the bridge.
Once it’s done, it will be wider and longer than the original.
The man responsible for Los Angeles street closures
Carmageddon 2 isn't the only road closure affecting Angelenos this weekend. There's also a triathlon in Venice.
And there's little relief in sight because next Sunday Downtown Los Angeles will shut several streets for Ciclavia, the semi-annual gathering of pedestrians and cyclists
That same day, President Obama is scheduled to appear at a concert and a fundraiser at the Nokia Theater.
It's a recipe for a traffic nightmare, but if you think you're worried, you've got nothing on Aram Sahakian, he oversees special traffic operations for L.A.'s Department of Transportation.
When a street closes, it is his job to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible.
How to maintain your sanity this Carmageddon weekend
Well if you must hit the road this weekend, you won't want to set out before consulting David Rizzo.
He's known as Dr. Roadmap and he's the author of "Survive the Drive," a guide to beating traffic and road rage in Southern California. He's got some advice for Angelenos and visitors
Well, if you must hit the road this weekend, you won't want to set out before consulting our next guest — David Rizzo.
When responding to the question of how Carmageddon 2 will be compared to the first, he says, “I think it will be worse and this is based on 25 years of following traffic conditions… people are going to press their luck, people are going push the envelope and be on the road a little bit more, plus its going to take ten hours longer work to knock down the second set of columns… you have to take it seriously”
He's known as Dr. Roadmap and he's the author of "Survive the Drive," a guide to beating traffic and road rage in Southern California. He offers some advice to help you stay sane if you're on the road this Carmageddon weekend.
Alternate Routes
“Make your choice in alternate routes destination-based. Going anywhere east of Hollywood, then definitely take the 101 or the 5, I prefer the 5 … if you’re going to the West the canyons will work”
To UCLA
Take Beverly Glen
To Beverly Hills
Take Coldwater Canyon
To West Hollywood
Take Laurel Canyon
Going further East?
Take the freeways
Living West and have to go West?
Topanga Canyon, State Route 27, will work just fine
To LAX
“Sepulveda is supposed to be open, so I would take Sepulveda Blvd. all the way… the good news is that the southbound on ramp and Getty Center is predicted to be open so you only have to take Sepulveda as far as Getty Center then get on the 405”
Alternate routes to the alternate routes?
“The only one that is a good alternate to Sepulveda is to the West and that is the Havenhurst—Calneva junction, but that will only get you as far as Mulholland and you’ll still have to get over to Sepulveda…and the same for on the east side of the 405, you’ve got small tiny streets, but if you choose to take those streets A.) You better be really good with a map, and B.) It’s going take longer, so I would just stick with the main drags”
Basic rules to follow?
“Leave early. I’d allow fifty percent more travel time, because people are going to avoid the 405 there is going to be more traffic on the 5 freeway and the 101, but those freeways have accidents, especially the 101, and that is where the gridlock is going to be…You’re going to have to leave really early”
Looking for more information?
David says that traffic sites such as Googlemaps and SigAlert are pretty reliable for reporting traffic, and you can find which service streets have the least amount of traffic on the website: http://trafficinfo.lacity.org
Investigation finds Boy Scouts failed to report hundreds of sexual abuse claims
This week the Boy Scouts of America announced it will review more than 50 years' worth of confidential files on alleged sexual predators.
This after the Los Angeles Times found that scouting officials failed to report hundreds of cases of alleged sexual abuse between 1970 and 1991 to authorities.
Jason Felch, is the reporter behind the LA Times investigation joins the show to talk about what he foind
Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's affect on the Arab world
As the Arab Spring exploded in Egypt, President Obama threw in his lot with the Arab street, accelerating the exit of longtime ally Hosni Mubarak.
We look at how new president Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim brotherhood, has changed the calculus of power in the region.
Inside the Pyongyang International Film Festival
You might be familiar with the Sundance Film Festival or the Toronto film Festival, which ended earlier this month, but how about the Pyongyang International Film Festival?
Too bad you'll probably never get to go. And not because it ends today, but because it takes place in North Korea, the world's most closed society.
This year a film called "Comrade Kim Goes Flying" was one of the favorites. Jean Lee, the Associated Press Bureau Chief in Korea, was there to see it.
Guest:
Jean Lee, AP bureau chief in Korea
Davy Rothbart wears his 'Idiot' heart on his sleeve in new essay collection
A Martinez talks to Davy Rothbart about his new collection of essays, “My Heart Is An Idiot.”
Rothbart is a contributor to This American Life and the editor/publisher of Found Magazine.
Tipster gives police possible lead on Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance
A look at another American legend: Teamster Jimmy Hoffa.
Hoffa mysteriously disappeared from a suburban Detroit restaurant in 1975. The FBI believes he was murdered to keep him from ending the mob's influence over the union. He's been suspected of being crushed in an automobile compactor, ground up in a meat processing plant, and even buried in the endzone of the old Giant's stadium in New Jersey.
He may be "sleeping with the fishes" but his final whereabouts remain a mystery.
But today, police in Michigan are following up on a new lead. A tipster claims he saw a body being buried in a surburban Detroit driveway at the same time Hoffa disappeared.
Police say their ground penetrating radar has revealed an anomaly two feet under ground.
New book explores the works of Ansel Adams
Andrea G. Stillman, a longtime executive assistant for photographer Ansel Adams, joins the show to talk with A Martinez.
She’s the author of “Looking at Ansel Adams,” a new collection of photography.