Local Water Providers Explain How They’ll Be Handling Their Water Supply With New Water Restrictions Coming Next Month
Late last month, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) told member agencies that buy and distribute the water they wholesale in certain areas dependent on the State Water Project (SWP) that harsh water use restrictions were coming on June 1 because the SWP supply is critically low following a record dry start to the year. Those member agencies were given two options -- they could either mandate outdoor watering be limited to one day a week, or, they could agree to get a monthly allocation of water that would consist of supplies from both the state Department of Water Resources and the State Water Project. The new restrictions will impact about 6 million Southern Californians, but what it will mean for each of them depends on where you live and how your water supplier is planning to implement MWD's new rules.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll speak with a panel of representatives from some of the local water districts whose customers will be affected, including Inland Empire Utility Agency General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District General Manager Dave Pedersen, and Tom Love, general manager of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District about how they plan to implement and enforce these restrictions on June 1 and what that means for their customers.
What Does Midterm Political Strategy Look Like Following Leaked Supreme Court Draft Opinion That Would Overturn Right To Abortion?
California leaders wasted no time reacting to a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark case known as Roe v Wade. That of course protects the right to abortion. Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to make the state a safe place for those seeking abortions and called this a defining issue of the 2022 election. Gov. Newsom is up for re-election along with many others across the state and country. So what does this unclear future of abortion rights mean for political strategy? Nicole Narea, politics reporter covering U.S. state policy and political races for Vox and Loyola Marymount Professor and Center for the Study of Los Angeles Director Fernando Guerra, join guest host Austin Cross to discuss. You can read Nicole’s piece about this here. If you have questions, call 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@kpcc.org.
As Costs Grow, How Important Is A 4-Year Degree?
A new statewide poll is shedding light on how Californians are feeling about the traditional four-year college degree. The survey shows most people value alternative options like community college or vocational training. And it shows a lot of people think traditional degrees at the University of California and California State University are unaffordable. Research shows that college affordability is a high priority for California voters. Various levels of student aid are available to students, which can help with costs, but it’s not the whole picture. Helen Torres, chief executive of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, and Audrey Dow, senior vice president for the Campaign for College Opportunity, joins guest host Austin Cross to talk about the new survey and the implications of affordability and the four-year degree.
California Has Medical Parole – So Why Aren’t Patients Receiving Care?
A little over ten years ago, California passed SB1399, a bill allowing people who were incarcerated and “medically incapacitated,” to be cared for in nursing homes and outside prison walls. It applied to people who had suffered strokes, were parapalegic, or immobile in most capacities. The program, referred to as ‘medical parole,’ was expanded under a landmark lawsuit about overcrowding and was meant to help the state not only decrease prison populations but also save money by shifting the high cost of care to federally funded facilities. That plan took a turn for the worse recently when the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation decided to pull almost everyone on medical parole out of federally certified nursing homes and move them to one in Los Angeles called Golden Legacy Care Center. But this facility recently lost its federal certification for violating federal health guidelines, after an investigation revealed serious neglect, including a resident cuffed to a bed even though he couldn’t move on his own.
Today on AirTalk, KPCC & LAist investigative reporters Elly Yu and Aaron Mendelson join guest host Austin Cross to talk about their reporting on the Golden Legacy Care Center in the San Fernando Valley, along with Dan Mistak, director of Health Care Initiatives for Justice-Involved Populations at Community Oriented Correctional Health Services in Oakland.
With files from LAist. Read the full story here.
COVID-19 AMA: New Omicron Variants Drive Infection Waves, Return To Mask Mandates Unlikely, And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg, professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
Topics today include:
New Omicron variants drive new coronavirus waves
- If you’ve had Omicron, are you immune to infection from the new variants?
- Could nose spray vaccines help tackle variants?
- COVID cases are rising, but a return to mask mandates isn’t likely
- Bill advances in the California legislature to let teens get vaccinated without parental consent
- Children can get long COVID, too, and the ways it manifests can be unexpected
- Why the FDA put strict limits on Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine
- WHO: Nearly 15 million deaths associated with COVID-19
From Antiques To What's Chic, We Hear From Listeners About Their Second-Hand Finds
One person’s trash is another’s treasure, literally in the case of second-hand store finds like the ancient Roman bust recently sold at a Texas Goodwill for $34.99 or a $10 ashtray that turned out to be a piece by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Stories like those had us wondering: What are the best things you’ve ever found at a second-hand store, flea market, garage sale, or swap meet?
Today on the program, guest host Austin Cross hears from listeners about their best finds and also talk founder of Silverlake Flea Fiora Bee and Rick Landis, director of business development for the Santa Fe Springs and Cypress College swap meets.