Citing what they deem as the NCAA's abdication of responsibility to protect athletes from injury, the College Athletes Association (CAPA) announced the creation of the new labor organization to represent college football and basketball players. This organization just lost a lawsuit, denying Northwestern football players the right to unionize; Credit: David Banks/Getty Images

CHICAGO (AP) - The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday threw out a historic ruling that gave Northwestern University football players the go-ahead to form the nation's first college athletes' union, saying the prospect of union and nonunion teams could throw off the competitive balance in college football.

The decision dismissed a March 2014 decision by a regional NLRB director in Chicago who said that the football players are effectively school employees and entitled to organize. Monday's decision did not directly address the question of whether the players are employees. And it remains to be seen whether the players can still take this to federal court.

DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER (August 17, 2015)

Northwestern University Decision Fact Sheet

Guest:

Warren Zola, adjunct  professor of Sports Law at Boston College; he also writes for the Sports Law Blog

The experimental drug flibanserin, made by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, is at the center of a regulatory controversy.; Credit: Allen Breed/AP

For the third time since 2010, a little pink pill that purports to increases sexual desire in women is up for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA will make its ruling Tuesday as to whether the drug ‘flibanserin’ will be approved for sale in the U.S. Often (incorrectly) referrred to as ‘female Viagra,’ flibanserin has been a topic of controversy since it first became public. Health professionals are divided on the drug’s potential effectiveness and the severity of its side effects.

Guests:

Dr. Walid Gellad, associate professor of medicine and co-director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Gellad voted to approve flibanserin when he sat on an FDA advisory panel reviewing the drug back in June

Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the Georgetown University Medical Center and director of PharmedOut, a program that studies pharmaceutical industry marketing

ShellNo flotilla participants float near the Polar Pioneer oil drilling rig during demonstrations against Royal Dutch Shell on May 16, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. Demonstrators began three days of protests both on land and on Puget Sound over the presence of the first of two Royal Dutch Shell oil rigs in the Port of Seattle; Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images

When the federal government yesterday approved oil-drilling operations off the coast of Alaska's northwest shores by Royal Dutch Shell, two disasters dogged the news: the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill.

Since those massive spills, the oil industry says it has made huge strides in safety - including in subsea well control and oil spill response. Still, environmental groups such as the Sierra Club say if a spill got out of hand in Arctic seas, it could harm threatened whales, ice seals, walrus and other species.

Why did the federal government decide to green light the permits? How has technology changed to prevent blowouts of deep-sea oil wells? Will the Senate approve the permitting for Shell? What are your thoughts about the risks of offshore drilling compared to other fossil fuel production?

Guests:

Dan Kish, Senior Vice President of Policy, Institute for Energy Research - a think tank that advocates for free-market energy policy

Michael Brune, Executive Director, The Sierra Club - an advocacy organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and the environment

"School'; Credit: Elizabeth Albert via Flickr

They were accusations that shocked the nation and led to the longest criminal trial in the history of the U.S.

Members of the family that operated the Manhattan Beach-based McMartin preschool, plus teachers at the daycare, were accused of sexually abusing a number of students and subjecting them to satanic rituals.

The 2.5-year-long trial produced no conviction.

In “We Believe the Children,” writer Richard Beck lays bare the various forces at work – from overzealous investigators to well-intended psychologists to a media caught up in the heinousness of the allegations  – that helped fan the hysteria of child sexual abuse across the country.

Guests:

Richard Beck, author, “We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s” (PublicAffairs, 2015). He is an editor at the literary journal, n+1

Kevin Cody, publisher of the community paper Easy Reader News, serving Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo and Palos Verdes. Cody reported on the entire McMartin trial for the paper

An area of beach in Huntington Beach where Poseidon has proposed a desalination plant; Credit: Poseidon Water

The fate of a water desalination plant proposed by Poseidon Water in Huntington Beach remains uncertain after a panel of experts has concluded that it would be too expensive to build it using intake pipes under the sea floor.

That was the approach favored by the California Coastal Commission, whose approval is needed to begin construction. The impasse creates an uncertain future for the proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant.

Read the full story here

Phase 2 Report: Feasibility of Subsurface Intake Designs for the Proposed Poseidon Water Desalination Facility at Huntington Beach, California

Guests:

Robert Sulnick, Executive Director of Orange County Water Independence Sustainability & Efficiency (OC WISE), which supports the development of all forms of new water for Orange County; he consults for Poseidon Water, which is a member of the OC Wise coalition

Ray Hiemstra, associate director of programs at the O.C. Coastkeeper, an environmental group

In this photo illustration, a man smokes an E-Cigarette; Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The state legislature will reconsider a bill Wednesday that would regulate e-cigarettes the same as tobacco, one day after a new study was released that shows 14-year-olds who've tried e-cigarettes are four times more likely to try other tobacco products.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday, finds teenagers who have used e-cigarettes are more likely to at least sample tobacco cigarettes, cigars or hookahs, said co-author Adam Leventhal, associate professor and director of the USC Health, Emotion, & Addiction Laboratory at the Keck School of Medicine.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Guests:

Dr. Jonathan Samet, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and director of the USC Institute for Global Health. He’s a pulmonary physician and epidemiologist

Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association, an industry group based in New Jersey

Republican Presidential candidate and business mogul Donald Trump exits his plane during his trip to the border on July 23, 2015 in Laredo, Texas.; Credit: Matthew Busch/Getty Images

In the first republican primary debate earlier this month, Donald Trump notoriously announced to Fox moderator Chris Wallace that, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration.”

At the time, it was fodder for GIFs and the butt of political jokes, but just a few weeks later, that sentiment seems to have shifted the terms of the primary race and the focus of the conversation to a topic many of the Republican candidates desperately wanted to avoid.

Since June, Trump’s policy on immigration has vacillated from one vague idea to another, but this week he put in writing on his website his first position on the matter. It details his ideas to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, seize the remittances they send home, get Mexico to pay for a border wall and abolish birthright citizenship--ideas which have historically idled at the edge of Republican politics.

Trump’s specifics have coincided with yet another jump in his polling numbers, effectively putting his counterparts on notice and forcing them to take positions on immigration reform. That focus is also raising new questions about the future of immigration reform in this country and what could be accomplished under a Republican administration.

Is it a strategic move on Trump’s part? And does it help or hurt the Republican party?

Donald Trump's Plan for Immigration Reform

Guests:

David Fahrenthold, reporter for the Washington Post who’s been covering Donald Trump’s immigration policy

David Carney, CEO, Norway Hill Associates, Inc., a political consultant firm based in New Hampshire. Former political director of the George H.W. Bush White House and was a top political strategist for the Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign

Alfonso Aguilar, Executive Director, Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles; He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 as the first Chief of the Office of Citizenship within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; he’s also an attorney with the law offices of James G. Roche, offices throughout the U.S. including L.A. and Orange county

A Lyft Car with a pink mustache sticker. Lyft and Uber could soon be welcome to do business at LAX; Credit: Tony Webster via Flickr

Yesterday, a Los Angeles Council Committee discussed ridesharing access at LAX.

Lawmakers reviewed an action by the Board of Airport Commissioners to approve a Non-Exclusive License Agreement for Transportation Network Companies such as Uber and Lyft to begin operating at Los Angeles International Airport.

This follows news last month that some ride-sharing drivers have felony conviction records. Michele Hanisee, Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, says as with taxi drivers, ride-sharing drivers should be subjected to fingerprint-based background checks through the Department of Justice and screening of DMV records.

Should Uber and Lyft be able to pick up passengers at LAX? The city's Airport Commission has already given its blessing to the companies and Mayor Eric Garcetti is also a proponent.

Guests:

Mike Bonin, Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 11th District including large swaths of West LA; Bonin voted in support of a policy giving ride-sharing vehicles LAX access

Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 2nd District including the east San Fernando Valley; Krekorian voted against a policy giving ride-sharing vehicles LAX access

An Airtanker dropping fire retardant on a wildfire at The Springs FIre in Banks-Garden Valley, ID, Boise National Forest, Idaho Dept. of Lands, August, 2012. This photo was taken with a drone; Credit: Kari Greer of U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr

State legislators are working to paint a much clearer picture of what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to flying drones as the clock ticks down on a September 11 deadline to pass new legislation regulating drone use.

A group of interested parties including NASA, drone manufacturers, and law enforcement agencies were invited to Tuesday’s meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management in Sacramento to share their thoughts on the benefits and risks of personal drone operation. First responders and emergency managers also weighed the pros and cons of using drones as a cost-effective way to do things like search for lost hikers, help fight fires, keep an aerial eye on crime scenes, or follow suspects.  

The bills being considered would regulate many aspects of how drones operate, including rules for flying over private and government property, how collected surveillance footage is stored and monitored, and how far private drones must stay away from emergency responders. State fire officials are worried after several incidents in recent weeks of private drones flying too close to emergency response operations.

How should the state regulate drone operation? Do you think this is an issue best left to the federal government? What are the benefits and risks of first responders and law enforcement using drones? What are the privacy concerns at play?

Guests:

Lt. Barbara Ferguson, sheriff’s legislative liaison for San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. She was at Tuesday’s meeting in Sacramento

Richard Hanson, government and regulatory affairs representative for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, was at Tuesday’s meeting in Sacramento

Los Angeles convenience store. ; Credit: Gareth Simpson via Flickr

LA County health officials want to overhaul the restaurant health grading system, reports the Pasadena Star-News. The new system, if put into place, would make it harder for restaurants with prior health writeups to get an A rating.

The recommendation is part of a report health officials sent to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The report came in the wake of a review of close to two years of restaurant inspection data conducted by the Los Angeles News Group -- which the Pasadena Star News is part of -- that found that many restaurants were given high grades despite having incurring major health violations.

County of Los Angeles Department Of Public Health - REFERENCE GUIDE FOR THE FOOD OFFICIAL INSPECTION REPORT

Guest:

Stephanie K. Baer, reporter for the Los Angeles News Group. She and reporter Daniel Tedford conducted the review on county restaurant inspection data that led to the potential overhaul of the restaurant health grading system

Bill Chait, restaurateur in Los Angeles and co-owner of the restaurants Republique and Bestia

Jeff Nelken, food safety expert, consultant, and food safety auditor in Los Angeles.

Angelo Bellomo,Director of Environmental Health for the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health. 

LAPD traffic stop on Woodman Avenue in Arleta, Calif.; Credit: Chris Yarzab via Flickr

What would happen of Los Angeles police only pulled people over for imminently dangerous road behaviors?

Presumably there would a whole lot fewer traffic stops, like for driving slightly over the speed limit or failing to signal a lane change.

In fact, UC Berkeley law professor Christopher Kutz posits that curtailing the number of traffic stops for minor infractions would decrease the number of stops motivated by racial profiling. Furthermore, he says, fewer traffic stops could mean safer roads. He cites countries known for having aggressive driving cultures like Spain, England and France, which have 40%-60% of the U.S.’s fatality rate, despite traffic stops being made 20% to 30% as frequently. As for officer safety, Kutz claims that traffic stops are a leading cause of death.

Could Los Angeles benefit from fewer traffic stops? Or would drivers abuse that leniency?

Guest:

Christopher Kutz, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley who recently wrote the op-ed in the Los Angeles Times calling for a ban on traffic stops

#AT30 event at the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana, Calif.; Credit: Bill Youngblood/SCPR

Santa Ana has long  been a majority-Latino city, with a population that is over 78 percent Hispanic or Latino and about 48 percent of its residents born in another country.

But ever since efforts began to revitalize the city’s downtown area almost 30 years ago, there’s been fervent discussion about its changing demographics and whether Santa Ana should embrace its Latino heritage by preserving it, or favor economic development that could stifle unique cultural expression.

The debate raises questions about what it means for a place to  stay “authentic,” and the good and bad that comes with gentrification.

Santa Ana is of course just one microcosm for this shift that neighborhoods are grappling with across Southern California and beyond – such as Boyle Heights, which is wrestling with the development of its Mariachi Plaza and Highland Park, where renters have been squeezed out by new businesses and neighbors over the last several years. Is it possible to preserve a city’s culture while also boosting business? Is change inevitable? These are just some of the issues Larry Mantle and a panel of guests will debate.

Guests:

Ana Siria Urzua, Campaign Coordinator for Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities

Alicia Rojas, community  artist and co-founder of Santa Ana Community Artists Coalition@alicitarojas

Gustavo Arellano, editor of OC Weekly, author of the nationally syndicated column, “¡Ask a Mexican!,” and the books Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America; he’s also a contributor to KCRW @GustavoArellano

Hassan Haghani, Planning and Building Agency Executive Director will represent the City of Santa Ana @CityofSantaAna

Mark McLoughlin, Representing Floral Park  Homeowners Association

Ryan Chase,  President of Downtown Inc., mission is to facilitate the enhancement of Downtown Santa Ana as a vibrant shopping, entertainment, business and cultural destination for all

Erualdo Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at California State University, Fullerton @Erualdo

Kimberly Cervantes is one of five students in Compton suing the school district, alleging school administrators refused to provide help to address trauma physical and emotional trauma they'd suffered and that hurt their education.; Credit: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

(Files from NPR) - The defendants may be one Southern California school district and its top officials, but an unprecedented, class action lawsuit could have a big impact on schools across the country.

Thursday in Los Angeles, a U.S. District Court judge will preside over the first hearing in the suit against the Compton Unified School District alleging that CUSD didn’t provide adequate support to students who had experienced severe trauma, and often reacted by punishing instead of helping.

For more on the story and to read the full complaint, click HERE.

Guests:

Susan Ko, co-managing director at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress and a clinical psychologist

Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, a school psychologist and director of government relations for the National Association of School Psychologists based in Maryland

A view of the the U.S. Naval Station base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Obama promised during his first days in office to close the U.S. prison there but it still houses detainees.; Credit: Suzette Laboy/AP

In a move that may suggest a real effort to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the Pentagon are inspecting a number of military and federal prison sites on U.S. soil to assess whether they could be viable candidates for transferring the detainees from the infamous prison in Cuba.

Last week, Pentagon officials sent evaluation teams to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, the prison at the Army’s Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas. Next week they’ll check out the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Hanahan, South Carolina. State officials in both Kansas and South Carolina have pushed back hard, saying they don’t want dangerous terrorists to be housed in their state.

Currently, there are 116 detainees at Guantanamo, 52 of whom have been cleared for transfer abroad or repatriation. The other 64, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, were ruled too dangerous for release.

Officials will be assessing things like how secure the facility currently is, the changes that would be needed to make it secure enough to house the type of detainees that would be transferred, protecting and housing the service members who work at the prison, and the engineering and financial needs of those upgrades.

Since becoming president, Barack Obama has repeatedly called for the detention camp at Guantanamo to be closed down and for the prisoners to be transferred elsewhere. Under current law, detainees from Guantanamo may not be transferred to U.S. soil under any circumstances. Opponents say that no mainland prison will be as secure as Gitmo for housing terrorists.

Is this finally the beginning of the end for Gitmo? Where do you think the best place would be for Gitmo detainees to be transferred? What are the legal and financial impediments?

Guest:

Philip Ewing, senior defense correspondent for POLITICO

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 is a 20 year JAG officer and was senior legal counsel to the Green Berets

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras exits the presidential palace in Athens after presenting his resignation on August 20, 2015. ; Credit: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images

(AP) Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned Thursday and called early elections, hoping for a new, stronger mandate to implement a three-year bailout program that sparked a rebellion within his radical left party.

In a televised address to the nation, Tsipras said his government had got the best deal possible for the country when it agreed to an 86 billion euro ($95 billion) bailout from other eurozone countries.    

The rescue was all that kept Greece from a disastrous exit from the euro but came with strict terms to cut spending and raise taxes - the very measures Tsipras had pledged to fight when he won elections in January.

Guest:

Joe Weisenthal, reporter who oversees Bloomberg's markets coverage and traveled to Athens to cover Greece's political and economic turmoil this summer

Republican presidential hopeful and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush throws a baseball at as he plays a carnival game during the Iowa State Fair on August 14, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Donald Trump continues his rise in GOP Presidential polls, but Jeb Bush is the solid number two--that, despite concerns of many Republicans about Bush's support of Common Core and immigration reform.

Yesterday on the campaign trail, Bush came out swinging.

He became more forceful in attacks on Trump, and the need to secure the border. Many have complained that Trump is blocking some of the sun for other candidates. Today on AirTalk we'll look in depth at candidate Bush.

Will Bush's strategy prove successful? What can we learn from his background that helps better understand him as a candidate?

Guests:

Eli Stokols, reporter at POLITICO covering the Jeb Bush presidential campaign. He tweets @EliSTokols

Kevin Wagner, Associate Professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. He's a longtime observer of Florida politics and government He tweets @KevinWagnerPhD

"Carpool Lane: In the backseat of our three-person carpool to work"; Credit: Peter Dutton via Flickr

The rate of carpooling to work has been steadily declining in recent decades, but a crop of apps in the model of Uber is paving the way for a new wave of ridesharing.

Carpool commuting made up 20 percent of all work trips in the 1980s, when the Census began measuring it. That rate has declined every decade since. The most recent surveys say just 9.7 percent of commuters carpool nationally, though in Los Angeles it's a bit higher, at 10.7 percent.

Do you carpool? Why or why not?

Tweet us with #KPCCCommute to let us know!

Read the full story.

Guest:

Meghan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering commuting and mobility issues

Producers of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch pose in the press room during the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. ; Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The massive success of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" — 38 Emmy nominations since 2005 — is telling about the genre as a whole: Reality TV began as a kooky trend at the turn of the millennium but is now a staple for audiences and the industry.

AirTalk is taking a deeper look at this year's Emmy category of Unstructured Reality, starting with the nominee that won Outstanding Reality Program last year. The series is set in the bone-chilling Bering Sea, and follows charismatic ship captains and crew as they hunt for valuable, delicious crabs and deal with personal challenges.

It portrays how dangerous the crab hunt is, but filming it can be as challenging. Shooters, producers and their gear endure unpredictable conditions: cold, wet weather and long hours.

What are some of the most dogged challenges they face in the field? What have they learned about human nature from spending so much time documenting the personal lives of the participants? Why do they persevere shooting unscripted shows instead of the more predictable, scripted shows? What do they see as the future of the genre?

Guests:

Jeff Conroy, Emmy-nominated Executive Producer at Original Productions, creators of Discovery’s hit series “Deadliest Catch”

John Gray, Emmy-nominated Executive Producer at Original Productions, creators of Discovery’s hit series “Deadliest Catch”

A high school couple at prom. ; Credit: E M via Flickr

A study out of the University of Denver finds that people who started dating in high school tend to have more productive romantic relationships later in life.

The study followed 200 tenth-graders — half male, half female — from middle- to upper-middle class backgrounds for nine years and found that quality high school romance benefits the psychological and social growth of teens.

The study,“Quality Counts: Developmental Shifts in Associations Between Romantic Relationship Qualities and Psychosocial Adjustment,”  was published this month in the journal "Child Development".

Guest:

Wyndol Furman, Professor of Psychology at University of Denver. He is one of the coauthors of the study, “Quality Counts: Developmental Shifts in Associations Between Romantic Relationship Qualities and Psychosocial Adjustment.”

To hear this segment, click on the play button above.

French President Francois Hollande (L) shakes hands with Anthony Sadler (R) next to off-duty US serviceman Spencer Stone (2nd R) and off-duty serviceman Alek Skarlatos after a reception at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2015, during which they have been awarded with France's top Legion d'Honneur medal in recognition of their bravery after they overpowered the train attacker.; Credit: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Three Californians were given France's highest honor this morning, after their heroic actions foiled an attack aboard a European train. At great risk to themselves, the unarmed men subdued the well-armed would-be attacker, evidently intent on killing passengers aboard a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris.

Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler received the French Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande. British businessman Chris Norman was also honored. Three additional passengers, including one who was shot, will be honored later.

What is it that enables someone to face head on the risk of death or serious injury? Back on 9/11, passengers on United 93, knowing they were dealing with a suicide attacker, were able to force the plane down and save many other lives.

Maybe you've found yourself with having to decide whether to step into a violent situation or not. Probably not a terrorist attack, but domestic violence, street crime, robbery. What did you do? In hindsight, was it the right move, or do you regret how you responded? Did you think before you acted, or did you just act without considering cost to yourself?

Call us at  866-893-5722 with your life or death story!