San Francisco was blindsided and nearly burned to rubble 100 years ago today as a pre-dawn 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked what was then called "the Paris of the West." More than 3000 people perished. Last August, New Orleans suffered its own tragedy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Some 1604 people were killed during the storm and its aftermath, which proved to be the costliest disaster in US history. Over the past hundred years, what have we learned about preparing for and mitigating the destruction of natural disasters? Guest host Diana Nyad talks to journalists, geologists and economists. (An extended version of this program originally aired earlier today on To the Point.)
- Making News: Mayor Villaraigosa's First State-of-the-City Address
In his State of the City address this afternoon, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke of his taking back our schools proposal, which lays out his plan to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District and do away with power of elected school board members. Ron Orlov, City Hall Bureau Chief of the LA Daily News, has the details of the plan that could go before voters as early as next year.