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What chance does the immigration lawsuit from 17 states have against President Obama?

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House Holds Hearing On The Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has taken the lead in filing a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, challenging President Obama's executive action protecting the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. ; Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

A lawsuit has been filed by 17 states on Wednesday against President Obama’s executive action on immigration. The suit says that the President had overstepped his authority and violated the Constitution in issuing the order.

The federal suit was announced by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. “The president’s unilateral executive action tramples the U.S. Constitution’s Take Care Clause and federal law,” Abbott said in a statement.

States involved include Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

What are the prospects of the lawsuit?

Guests:

Stephen Legomsky, professor, Washington University Law School; former Chief Counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Ronald Rotunda, professor of law, Chapman University


Proposed CEQA changes could push development to disincentivize car use

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traffic brake lights commuting

; Credit: Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read via Flickr Commons

A change to the formula used under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) could have a large impact on development throughout the state. Currently, the CEQA process views projects as having a negative environmental impact if they slow traffic. The proposed changes would change the perspective from one focusing on stemming traffic to one with an eye towards decreasing the amount of cars on the road and the temporal length of transportation.

If the proposed changes become final, the slight difference in priorities may change the way developers treat the city and suburbs. Whereas previous attempts under the act expanded car lanes and synchronized streetlights in order to lessen traffic, new attempts would discourage suburban sprawl and instead incentivize options for alternative transport. Those who bike and use mass transit may benefit from the proposed regulatory process, and supporters of green development are supporting the changes with the belief that it will lower greenhouse emissions. Yet for drivers who already have long commutes, driving through the city could become more onerous.

How should the state of California regulate development under CEQA? Do you think your commute could be affected if the development process changes?

Guests:

Ethan Elkind, Associate Director of the Climate Change and Business Program, with a joint appointment at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. Author of the book, "Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City" (University of California Press, 2014)

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association

Eric Garner decision: What needs to change in police training

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Grand Jury Declines To Indict NYPD Officer In Eric Garner Death

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 3: People lie down in the street as they take part during a protest in support of Eric Garner at the Columbus Circle on December 3, 2014 in New York City. Garner died after being put in a chokehold during an alteration with NYPD officers in the Staten Island borough of New York City. ; Credit: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

A grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict a New York police officer who put a fatal chokehold on an unarmed 43-year-old black man, Eric Garner, despite the encounter being caught on video tape. Just like in Ferguson, many are wondering what evidence the grand jury in New York was looking at that made them decide there wasn’t enough to charge the NYPD officer in Garner’s death. So how did they come to this decision?

Garner’s death is the latest in a slew of incidents that have raised tensions between law enforcement and the black community. In addition to the Ferguson grand jury’s decision last week not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, Cleveland police are also coming under fire for an incident involving one of their officers shooting a 12-year-old boy who was playing with a BB gun in a park.

In fact, the Justice Department released a report Thursday saying that the Cleveland Police Department uses excessive force far too often, are poorly trained in tactics, and endanger the public and fellow officers with their recklessness.

Here in Los Angeles, LAPD chief Charlie Beck is faulting three officers in the death of an unarmed man last year, saying they violated department rules for using deadly force. The three officers have remained relieved of duty since the incident and it will be up to Chief Beck to decide how the officers will be punished, if at all.

The common factor among each of these incidents is the questionable tactical decisions made by the police officers involved. Is enough being done to properly train police officers to use deadly force responsibly? How, if at all, should police training change after the incidents in Cleveland, Ferguson, L.A., and New York?

Guests:

John L Burris, civil rights lawyer at The Law Offices of John L. Burris in Oakland and former prosecutor

Ben Tracktenberg, associate professor of law at the University of Missouri where he teaches criminal procedure, evidence and legal ethics

Tim Williams, retired LAPD Senior Detective Supervisor (Robbery-Homicide Division), 1974-2003; Expert on police procedure and use-of-force for state and federal court; owner of T.T. Williams Jr.  investigations

What do we do with the United States’ arsenal of nuclear weapons?

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US nuclear weapons test in Nevada in 1951

Military personnel observe a nuclear weapons test in Nevada, the United States, in 1951.

Credit: US Government; Credit: US Government

It’s no secret that the United States has a larger stockpile of nuclear weapons than any other country in the world. According to the Arms Control Association, the U.S. had 4,804 nuclear warheads as of September 2013. What’s more, the Congressional Budget Office says that the U.S. will spend $355 billion over the next ten years on nuclear weapons.

Advocates of the proliferation of nuclear weapons say that the U.S. nuclear arsenal should be upgraded, that new weapons should be developed and tested because it’s pointless to be spending billions of dollars every year to maintain a stockpile of weapons that is rusting away. Opponents, like California Senator Diane Feinstein, say that the amount of nukes the U.S. has is far more than is necessary and that the country could be spending that defense money on more important issues like fighting the so-called Islamic State and defending against cyberattacks.

While there have been no recent threats serious enough to elicit even the thought of a nuclear response, the question still remains about what to do with the nearly five thousand nukes that we currently have. Do they need to be upgraded? Should we downsize our nuclear arsenal, and if so, how? Or should they just be forgotten about and left to rust? What are the implications of upgrading our nuclear arsenal? Of downsizing it?

Guests: 

Peter Huessy, senior defense consultant at the Air Force Association, President of his own defense company called Geostrategic Analysis, he also teaches nuclear policy at the U.S. Naval Academy

John Isaacs, senior fellow at the Council for a Livable World, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to reducing the danger of nuclear weapons and increasing national security

The Orange County bankruptcy, 20 years later

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US-NEW YEARS-TRADITION-PACIFIC-PLUNGE

A surfer rides a wave beside Huntington Beach pier as participants at the annual Pier Plaza Plunge spend some time in the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach, California, for the New Year's Day tradition on January 1, 2014.; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

In the early 1990’s OC Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. “Bob” Citron made billions of dollars for Orange County, its city governments, water districts and school districts with a heavily-leveraged investment scheme. It borrowed against fairly vanilla fixed-rate bonds in order to invest in derivative securities that paid big returns as long as interest rates stayed low. It’s a risky scheme, and for a while, it made a lot of money, so much so that Citron and his assistant, Matthew Raabe, began cooking the books to make the investments looked more stable than they were.

Throughout 1994 interest rates continued to rise and Citron’s leverage began to collapse. On Dec. 6, 1994, Orange County declared bankruptcy. It was the largest municipal bankruptcy ever seen and the fallout continued for years.

Guests: 

Chris Knap, former Staff Writer, Orange County Register; current editor, KPCC

Norberto Santana Jr., reporter and chief editor for Voice of OC, a non-profit investigative news agency

'Tales of the Grim Sleeper' by filmmaker-cum-homicide detective once more

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Grim Sleeper

Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" follows a 25-year-old story of a serial killer that quietly stalked South Central Los Angeles and allegedy murdered dozens of sex-trade workers.The documentary is up for an Oscar for best documentary feature 2015. ; Credit: HBO Films

Nick Broomfield styles himself as the Columbo of true-crime filmmakers. In his latest verite style documentary, he wades into a 25-year-old story of a serial killer that quietly stalked south central Los Angeles, allegedy murdering dozens of sex-trade workers. Broomfield is not just investigating the alleged murderer, but the LAPD, as well. In July 2010, when police arrested Lonnie Franklin Jr., the so-called Grim Sleeper, for the murder of 10 women, Broomfield was confounded by how the accused Franklin could have escaped notice for so long. 

The question takes Broomfield to the streets and alleys of south LA, where he enlists the help of locals who know Franklin. One unforgettable Angeleno who takes charge of numerous scenes is Pam, a former drug-addicted prostitute whose streets smarts, unpretentious humility and dark humor help make this tragedy more accessible. While Franklin has yet to stand trial four years after his arrest, "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" is as much an indictment of police and local officials. “The lack of concern allowed this hunting ground," said Broomfield.

Guests:

Nick Broomfield, Director of “Tales of the Grim Sleeper” shortlisted for an Oscar for best documentary feature  2015; the film is coming to the big screen at an unspecified date later this month and will air on HBO next year; Broomfield is also renowned for previous documentary features, "Kurt and Courtney," and "Biggie and Tupac."

Governor Brown considers expanding Medi-Cal for Deferred Action Recipients

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Governor Brown

Governor Brown at KPCC.; Credit: Mae Ryan/KPCC

Now that President Obama has announced his executive orders on immigration, California Governor Jerry Brown is considering expanding Medi-cal benefits to those who have been temporarily shielded from deportation.

Those under the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs have certain rights under the law, yet these rights range from state to state as the federal-state interaction falls under multiple jurisdictions. In the specific case of Medicaid, the entitlement is a federal program that is provided through states (California’s Medicaid program is called, “Medi-Cal”). Once the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) regulations regarding DACA and DAPA are finalized, states can find ways to provide services to these recipients since they will be issued a Social Security Number (SSN).

California granted the original DACA population (from Obama's 2012 initiative) eligibility for Medi-Cal if they met the income requirements. In the President's latest move, he expanded DACA to include those under 31 who had been in the United States as of January 1, 2010 (previously, the cut-off date was June 2007). Governor Brown can utilize the flexibility accorded him by the dual federal-state system to provide Medi-Cal benefits to the rest of those whose deportation actions have been temporarily deferred and who otherwise meet the income requirements, a somewhat similar comparison being how his administration passed legislation allowing undocumented aliens from applying for driver’s licenses.

California added 2 million people to its Medi-Cal ranks in the last two years, and Brown’s action could add hundreds of thousands, if not over a million, more if he pushes for legislation. For now, as the federal government finalizes the regulations regarding the programs, Brown’s team is looking at the cost-impact new actions on this front could have on the Medi-Cal budget and the state of California.

What impact, financial and otherwise, would extending Medi-Cal benefits have for California residents? Would giving DACA and DAPA recipients Medi-Cal open the door for additional entitlements to be given to those whose deportations have been deferred?

Guests:

John Myers, Senior Editor of the California Politics and Government desk at KQED

Laurel Lucia, Policy Analyst at the UC Berkeley Labor Center

Steve Camarota, Director of Research for the Center for Immigration Studies

Filmweek: 'Still Alice,' 'Wild,' 'Dying of the Light' and more

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"Still Alice"

Julianne Moore stars in 'Still Alice'; Credit: Sony Pictures via AFI Festival

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Andy Klein review this week’s releases, including 'Still Alice,' 'Wild,' 'Dying of the Light' and more. TGI-Filmweek!

 

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Guests:

Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC and LA Weekly

Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and L.A. Times Community Paper Chain


Autonomous no more: Proposed bill would take decision-making control away from University of California system

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University of California, Irvine, students march on campus to protest tuition increases approved by the UC regents.; Credit: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

The University of California system has maintained autonomy for 166 years, but that might be about to change.

A new bill introduced by a bipartisan pair of state senators would take control of UC away from the university. Democrat Ricardo Lara of Los Angeles and Republican Anthony Cannella of Ceres introduced the bill, partially in response to tuition hikes the UC Board of Regents voted to approve last month. While it would not list any specific powers that lawmakers would have over UC, it does give elected officials the final say over any policy approved by the governor-appointed regents, who are currently the highest authority. Senator Lara favors a system more like what California State has, where its 23 campuses are subject to control by legislators when it comes to finances and other key decisions, even though it is still run by a Board of Trustees.

A similar bill failed to meet the two-thirds threshold in 2009. That bill was proposed by then-Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco, who was upset over the UC regents’ decision to approve six figure salaries and free housing for new chancellors at UC San Francisco and UC Davis.

The bill would require two-thirds approval in both the state Senate and the Assembly but does not require a signature from Governor Jerry Brown.

Do you think the UC system should be stripped of its autonomy? What do you think of the bill introduced by Sen. Lara and Sen. Cannella? How should power be delegated within the UC system?

Guests:

Sen. Ricardo Lara, Democratic California State Senator from Bell Gardens (L.A. County), introduced the bill with Sen. Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres)

Sen. Anthony Cannella, Republican California State Senator from Ceres (Stanislaus County), introduced

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, superintendent president of Long Beach Community College District and member of the UC Board of Regents

Glass ceiling hits plateau for California business women

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FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit - Day 2

Chief operating officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg speaks onstage at the FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit on October 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for FORTUNE

The gains of California's women business leaders has flat-lined for a straight decade, according to the latest annual study on the subject from UC Davis. Researcher Amanda Kimball examined the 400 most successful companies in California, which includes global powerhouses such as Wells Fargo, Yahoo! and Mattel. She found women hold just one in nine of the executive and board positions and earn less than their male counterparts - about 74 percent of men's earnings.

Some firms do stress gender diversity at the top. The 25 companies with the greatest gender diversity are also the highest earning, with greater annual revenue and net income. Still, correlation does not prove causality, so which came first? As for ethnicity, 90.6 percent of women directors are Caucasian, 4 percent Asian, 3.4 percent African American and 2 percent Latina.

During what years did women make the most gains in business leadership? What were the drivers then? What has changed?

Guests:

Amanda Kimball, Author of UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders

Elizabeth “Liz” Fetter, Five-time CEO in the Bay Area; Fetter has led software, telecom and technology businesses ranging in size from early startup to $5 billion in revenue.

Rolling Stone retracts University of Virginia rape story

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UVa Fraternity Rolling Stone

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, file photo, University of Virginia students walk to campus past the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. Rolling Stone is casting doubt on the account it published of a young woman who says she was gang-raped at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party at the school, saying there now appear to be discrepancies in the student's account.; Credit: Steve Helber/AP

The Rolling Stone on Friday said it is no longer standing behind a story it published in its November issue that detailed an alleged gang rape of a freshman by a group of men at a University of Virginia fraternity party. The story, held as an example of the institutional indifference rape victims often feel on US college campuses, created quite a stir. In response to the allegations, the University of Virginia suspended all Greek activity last month and promised a thorough investigation.

But questions about the accuracy of the attack depicted in the story soon came to the fore. Slate.com wondered why the piece’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, never reached out to the seven alleged perpetrators for a comment. Then the Washington Post found that no current or former members of the fraternity involved in the alleged crime match the description of the man described in the article, who was identified as Drew.

On Friday, Rolling Stone's managing editor Will Dana issued a statement saying that “new information” the magazine obtained point to “discrepancies” in the alleged victim Jackie’s story.

“Because of the sensitive nature of Jackie's story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her. In the months Erdely spent reporting the story, Jackie neither said nor did anything that made Erdely, or Rolling Stone's editors and fact-checkers, question Jackie's credibility,” the statement posted on the Rolling Stone website reads.

How would the retraction impact the conversation on campus assault the nation has been having? The incident points partially to the challenges faced by reporters and editors covering hot-button issues, what lessons can we draw from this?

Guest: 

Jane Kirtley, professor media ethics and law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota

Should the Senate Intelligence Committee release its CIA interrogation report?

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Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) takes to Senate floor

U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) speaks to members of the media after a hearing on the Benghazi attack last month. ; Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to release a long-awaited report detailing the Central Intelligence Agency’s post-9/11 interrogation techniques. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been fighting to get the report out to the public since April. Political resistance against its release has been fierce. Critics from both sides of the aisle fear that the report might spur violence on American personnel overseas.  On Friday, Secretary of State Jerry Kerry called Feinstein on behalf of the White House, asking her a postponement.

"I think this is a terrible idea," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. "Foreign partners are telling us this will cause violence and deaths. Our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and deaths."

Others, including former CIA director Michael Hayden, chafe at the conclusions drawn by the report.

"To say that we relentlessly over an expanded period of time lied to everyone about a program that wasn't doing any good, that beggars the imagination," Hayden said on CBS's “Face The Nation.”

The report finds that the CIA overused harsh interrogation techniques and that they failed to obtain useful information.

Guest:

Steven Kleinman, former Air Force Reserve Colonel and veteran military interrogator who has spent his career in human intelligence. He was a senior interrogator in Panama, the first Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom

Jeffrey Addicott, Lt. Colonel (U.S. Army, ret.); Professor of Law at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, where he is the director of the Center for Terrorism Law; Addicott's a 20 year JAG officer and was senior legal counsel to the Green Berets

After Ferguson, Garner, what should be President Obama's legacy on racial tensions?

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President Obama And First Lady Speak At White House College Opportunity Summit

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during the Summit on College Opportunity at the Ronald Reagan Building December 4, 2014 in Washington, DC. President Obama commented on the death of Eric Garner as he hosted the summit on "building sustainable collaborations in communities with strong K-12 and higher education partnerships to encourage college attendance." ; Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Obama will give his first TV interview since the Ferguson grand jury decided to not indict Officer Darren Wilson. The interview will air tonight on Black Entertainment Television (BET) networks across the country. President Obama has been criticized from multiple sides of the political spectrum for his leadership, or perceived lack thereof, on national stories surrounding racial issues, from Trayvon Martin’s killing to the most recent grand jury findings in Eric Garner’s death. Those on the left have criticized the President for taking too long to address what has happened in the past few weeks as well as for not stepping up and taking a hard enough stance on these issues. Criticism from the right has focused on how his comments may have inflamed racial tensions.

The President cannot appease all sides, particularly as he wears many hats. Some say that he should stand above the fray as the leader of the free world, and in support they cite his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention at which he stated, “There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.” In contrast, as the first mixed race American to hold the office of President of the United States, many believe that he has a moral obligation to protect a disadvantaged minority group of whom no other President has been a member. As the President actively shapes his legacy during the last two years of his tenure, the words he says and the actions he takes next are likely to form context for the future of the nation.

Should the President take a stance? What is his role in the conversation surrounding race relations in the United States? How will what he does next affect his legacy?

Guests: 

Nia Malika Henderson, reporter, Washington Post

Joe Hicks, vice president, Community Advocates, Inc., a civil rights and human rights organization in Los Angeles

Jody Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law

TIME’s Person of the Year finalists, including Taylor Swift as the sole female contender

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TIME Person Of The Year Panel

A general view of atmosphere before the TIME's 2010 Person of the Year Panel at Time & Life Building on November 10, 2010 in New York, New York.; Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for TIME Inc.

Tomorrow, the editors of TIME magazine will reveal their choice for the 2014 Person of the Year. The shortlist of finalists unveiled last night lists eight contenders: the Ferguson protesters, the Ebola caregivers, Russian President Vladimir Putin, pop star Taylor Swift, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, openly gay Apple CEO Tim Cook, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

In a sense, the list is popularity contest, but focused on influence rather than likeability. The last time TIME selected a standalone woman was 1986 with Filipino leader Corazon Aquino. Who would be your choice among the finalists?

 

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GUEST:

Ben Goldberger, Nation Editor, TIME #TIMEPOY

The next frontier for computer hackers: Your car

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Gov. Brown Signs Legislation At Google HQ That Allows Testing Of Autonomous Vehicles

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The message is clear from Google to all major automakers: The future of the automobile is autonomous. The year 2020 is when several car manufacturers plan to offer self-driving cars to the masses. But how safe are they from a hacking standpoint? It’s a question that those in the automobile and security industries are increasingly focused on.

Even now, cars are technologically sophisticated machines, where computer chips control multiple features--some more obvious than others. As internet connectivity in automobiles become a common feature, hackers are seeing opportunities. Security experts like Chris Valasek have hacked into cars to control the brakes, start the windshield wipers, and even cut the engine.

How “hackable” are our cars? What are automakers doing about the problem? What can consumers do to decrease risk?

Guests:

Paul F. Roberts, Editor in Chief, The Security Ledger, a publication covering all things cyber security in Boston

Chris Valasek, Director of Vehicle Security Research at IOActive, a security cybersecurity consultancy. Valasek co-authored a report with Twitter’s security engineer Charlie Miller on the most “hackable” cars in the market. That paper was presented in this year’s Black Hat security conference


For some airlines, fees take off during holiday season

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Airport

Over the course of the next two years, airlines will start hiking up fees during peak travel times on things like early boarding, checked luggage, and seat upgrades, according to a report by IdeaWorks Co.; Credit: e3Learning/Flickr

If you’re planning to travel during a peak time of the year, like Christmas or Labor Day, you might have to cough up a little extra for airline fees.

A report out from the consulting firm IdeaWorks Co. predicts that airlines will start hiking up ancillary fees on things like carry-on bags during the most heavily-traveled times of the year. The report forecasts that the airline industry worldwide will generate $50 billion from ancillary fees.

Spirit Airlines, based in Florida, has already started doing just this. They are charging an extra $2 for checked bags on flights between December 18th and January 5th. Their website says that the reason for the fee hike is to encourage customers to pack lighter so that there’s room for more bags.

Over the course of the next two years, the report says that other airlines will also start hiking up fees during peak travel times on things like early boarding, checked luggage, and seat upgrades.

Guest: 

Mark Murphy, owner of Travel Pulse, an online resource for the travel industry

Will Garcetti’s earthquake plan mean even higher rents in Los Angeles?

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Los Angeles Apartments

Angelus Plaza Apartments.; Credit: John Williams PHD/Flickr

The owners of a common type of wood frame building vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake would have five years to shore up those structures under a mandatory retrofit plan unveiled by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday.

There are about 16,000 of these buildings in Los Angeles, and without money from the city to do the necessary retrofitting, it’s unclear who would pay for this. Right now, only 50 percent of the cost of major apartment rehabilitation projects can be passed on to tenants. So will the cost be largely passed on to renters? The report also recommends a voluntary rating system to determine how secure a building would be in an earthquake. Some are concerned that a voluntary rating system will result in only the most secure buildings displaying their ratings, while the ones that are structurally less fit, won’t.

Guests:

Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles

Dr. Lucy Jones, Chief Scientist, Multi-Hazards Project, U.S. Geological Survey and Mayor Garcetti's Science Advisor for Seismic Safety

James B. Clarke, Executive Vice President, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles

Senate Committee: CIA torture in wake of 9/11 was ineffective and illegal

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US-TORTURE-INTELLIGENCE-POLITICS

Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, speaks to reporters about the release of a report on CIA interrogations of high-value terrorists a decade ago, while walking from the subway on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 9, 2014. ; Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Today, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) blamed CIA headquarters, analysts and contractors for the illegal use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EITs) used on al-Qaeda detainees in the aftermath of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. Feinstein said the CIA's program amounted to "indefinite secret detention and the use of brutal interrogation techniques in violation of U.S. law, treaty obligations and our values."

The Central Intelligence Agency issued a response that in many ways is in direct contradiction of today's report. The CIA statement says, " [R]eviews indicate that the program, including interrogations of detainees on whom EITs were used, did produce valuable and unique intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives."  Feinstein went into exacting detail of the EITs that included days of sleep deprivation, violent abuse, and promises that the detainees would not leave CIA confinement alive.

What is your reaction to the findings and the CIA response?

Guests: 

Rachel VanLandingham, Lt. Colonel (U.S. Air Force, ret.); Former U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate (2000-2012); From 2006-2010, legal advisor for international law at Headquarters, U.S. Central Command, where she advised on operational and international legal issues related to the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq; Associate Professor, Southwestern Law School in LA

Jeffrey Addicott, Lt. Colonel (U.S. Army, ret.); Professor of Law at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, where he is the director of the Center for Terrorism Law; Addicott's a 20 year JAG officer and was senior legal counsel to the Green Berets

How is California doing in the national fight to curb over-medication of nursing home patients?

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Federal Budget Cuts to Affect Veterans Nursing Homes

A veteran sits in a wheelchair at the Quincy Veterans Home February 16, 2005 in Quincy, Illinois. The home, with its 683 beds, is the largest and oldest of four veteran's nursing homes in Illinois. ; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

On NPR this week, correspondent Ina Jaffe reported on an alarming trend taking place in many nursing homes across the nation: Patients are being overly medicated with antipsychotic drugs  when they don’t necessarily need them. Antipsychotics are approved primarily to treat serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but increasingly, nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia are being given the drugs.

For the piece, Jaffe talked to one family who decided to put their 73-year-old mom who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s in a nursing home. Soon after her arrival, the family said that the medical staff started putting her on antipsychotic drugs. The facility did obtain what’s known as “informed consent” from the father, still the family found her to be overly medicated.

One study in 2010 found that 71 percent of Medicaid residents in Florida nursing homes were getting some sort of psychoactive drugs, and study author says the problem is not confined to just one state. The government is aware of the problem and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a government agency, has been working to curb the issue at nursing homes nationwide—with definite success. Still, Jaffe’s reporting, based on data analysis of government data undertaken by NPR,  found that states that allow nursing homes to continue the questionable practice rarely get punished. Texas is one of the nation’s worst offenders.

How is California doing when it comes to addressing this problem? What mechanisms in California are in place to prevent over-medication to take place? If you have family members in a nursing home facility in Southern California, what have your experience been?

Guests: 

Dr. Karl E. Steinberg, past president and current secretary, the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine; board member, American Medical Directors Association. He’s been a nursing home and hospice medical director for near 20 years in San Diego County

Alice Bonner, former director of the Division of Nursing Homes for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). She is currently a part-time contractor for CMS. She is also an associate professor at the School of Nursing at Northeastern University

The changing meaning of Chinatown Los Angeles

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Chinatown

Immortalization is one thing Los Angeles Chinatown can claim over its other iterations in the country. The 1974 Roman Polanski noir put this Los Angeles landmark in our collective imagination. It's Hollywood myth-making, and exemplifies one way the idea of Chinatown is figured in American culture.

Read: Curbed LA's The Ultimate Chinatown Filming Location Map of Los Angeles

The identity of Los Angeles Chinatown has been always been changing. It began as simply put a place where Chinese railroad workers who went southward from San Francisco Los Angeles from gathered and lived. That area, centered on Calle de Los Negros between El Pueblo Plaza and Old Arcadia Street, was torn down to make way for the construction of Union Station. It'd eventually re-establish itself at its current location around at Cesar Chavez and N. Broadway.

Listen: NPR's Code Switch team explains the origin of the so-called "Oriental Riff"

Read: Wiki entry on the "Oriental Riff"

The new Chinatown, as is common known, was built in the 1930s. The look and feel was design to evoke the Orient and conceived to bring in local Chinese residents as well as American tourists. At the time, only the well-to-do had the opportunity to travel to exotic places abroad. For a taste of the good life, the rest of populace went to local destinations like Los Angeles Chinatown.  

View: LA Times photo feature on old and new Chinatowns

Read: UCLA's "The State of Chinatown Los Angeles" report

New shopping centers and buildings sprung up along Broadway in the 1980s. But by the late 1990s, Chinatown had fallen on hard times. Increasingly, new Chinese immigrants were flocking to burgeoning enclaves like Alhambra and Monterey Park in the San Gabriel Valley. Today, about 15,000 people live in Chinatown and about a quarter of them is Latino. Asians (from Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Southeast Asian countries) make up about 64 percent of the population. The average year income for a family of three is under $20,000.

Read: Chinatown tour map

Read: Chinatown art gallery guide

Local artists taking advantage of cheap rent and the availability of empty storefronts began moving into Chinatown, establishing art galleries and art spaces and ushering in a renaissance of sorts for the area. The impact of the revitalization of Downtown Los Angeles is beginning to be felt in Chinatown. The Jia Apartments, the $93 million, 280-unit luxury apartment complex, was completed earlier this year. Another mega shopping/housing complex called Blossom Plaza is expected to finish construction in 2015.

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In this special AirTalk segment, we’ll take a look at the past, present and future of Los Angeles Chinatown. To hear it, click on "Listen Now" above.

Guests:

Linda Chong, writer and historian and a volunteer and docent for the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California who gives guided tours of Chinatown

Bonnie Chen, development coordinator at Chinatown Service Center. She also co-authored the demographic profile “The State of Chinatown Los Angeles” for the Asian American Studies Center and the Urban Planning Department at UCLA 

Yong Chen, history professor at UC Irvine and author of “Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America” (Columbia University Press, 2014)

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