When It Rains It Pours - How The Latest Atmospheric River Will Affect Southern California
Yet more rain is coming to Southern California. The new storm is moving northwest to southeast, meaning areas like Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and the upper valleys of the Los Angeles area (Santa Clarita, San Fernando) will be the first to experience moderate showers. Ahead of the rain, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. The rain will start to get heavier in the later afternoon Tuesday and could cause water to pool in ponds on local streets and cause minor flooding in low lying areas, including a risk of rockslides and mudslides in burn areas. Joining to discuss the storm and its potential impact on flooding and snowpack is Eric Boldt, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service and Andrew Schwartz, lead Scientist and Manager at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at UC Berkeley.
With files from LAist. Read the full piece here.
How Are Elected Officials Helping Healthcare Workers As They Manage Shortages, Burnout?
The pandemic has exacerbated hiring problems for many job sectors in the country, one of the most essential being in healthcare and its ongoing burnout and staffing shortages. Recent emphasis has been placed by public officials on the federal level, most with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who recently offered estimates that the nation could face a doctors shortage of over 120,000 in the next decade. Sanders, who also chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, noted more immediate concerns when it came to nurses and dentists. The concern has been bipartisan, with Senators Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski also looking to find a solution to this pressing issue. So what’s being done on the federal and state levels to resolve burnout and prevent greater staffing shortages in the future? Today on AirTalk, we discuss policy efforts meant to improve work environments for healthcare workers with Samantha Young, senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News and California Health Line at the Sacramento bureau, and Laura Wagner, professor of nursing at UC San Francisco.
Is “Therapeutic Lying” The Way To Ease Suffering In People Living With Dementia?
A person living with dementia will often believe things that aren’t true, like that a long-dead relative is alive. This presents caregivers with a difficult choice: do they correct the person with dementia? Or do they go along with the fiction? Those who choose the latter are engaging in what’s known as “therapeutic lying,” or “creative communications techniques,” and the practice is controversial. Proponents say that fibbing to a person with dementia minimizes distress, but others view the practice as a breach of trust between caregiver and patient. If a caregiver does practice therapeutic lying, where do they draw the line? And what about the guilt of lying to a loved one? Joining us to discuss is Donna Benton, associate research professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
DNA Tracing And The Ethics Of Closed Adoptions
With DNA tracing websites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe growing in popularity, more adoptees are able to locate their birth parents. That can mean better access to medical history, heartwarming reunions with distant relatives, and a stronger sense of identity. But for those in closed adoptions – where records are sealed – making contact with distant relatives can sometimes present an ethical challenge. Closed adoptions grew out of the post-WWII era, when giving birth out of wedlock was stigmatized or even illegal in some states. Today, only ten states have completely opened records, while the rest are restricted or completely sealed. But in the new age of DNA tracing, many argue that closed adoptions no longer exist – since folks can find each other with a simple Google search. Joining us today is Gabrielle Glaser, journalist and author of “American Baby: A Mother, A Child, and The Secret History of Adoption” (Penguin Books, 2022), and Becky Davis, post-adoption specialist at Children’s Service Society of Utah, a Salt Lake City nonprofit that provides individualized adoption, childcare, and grandfamily services.
Talking With Karen Bass: The Latest On ‘Inside Safe’ Program, Limiting Police Response To 911 Calls And More
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joins Larry to discuss the latest happening in the city. Today, we talk about a proposal to limit police response to non-emergency calls, the latest on Bass’ initiative to end homelessness known as “Inside Safe,” efforts to enhance Metro safety and increase ridership and much more.