Abi Wright

Once again it’s the race for the White House as Reality TV, with  20 performers focused on making the next audition. Are “bold proposals” politically risky?

President Trump says negative economic forecasts are fake news, but he’s also making nervous calls to his friends in the business world to ask if they’re true.

In a groundbreaking series, Shoshana Walter reveals the work camps operating all over the country under the guise of rehab centers.

Since March some 387 Boeing 737 Max jets have been grounded by regulators and airlines with no end in sight. Boeing profits have tanked. Last month the company recorded its biggest ever quarterly loss and deliveries are at their lowest since 2012. Boeing says it expects the plane to return to service by the end of this year, as it continues to focus on the plane’s software system, thought to be the cause of both plane crashes. Boeing’s crisis highlights a problem beyond flight safety. The aircraft manufacturer chose to prioritize big spending on CEO compensation and stock buybacks rather than reinvest profits on its employees, infrastructure and R and D. Last year alone, Boeing’s chief executive Dennis Muilenburg took home $30 in compensation and gains from options. Buybacks over investment; the financial strategy that’s great for shareholders but may well have cost Boeing the public’s trust.

California’s relentless clean-air enforcer, Mary Nichols, has divided the automobile industry. After weeks of secret negotiations, the Chair of the State’s Air Resources Board has announced that Ford, Honda VW and BMW of America won’t go along with President Trump’s rollback of Barack Obama’s fuel-economy standards. Nichols claims it’s an “olive branch,” giving car makers the “flexibility” to clean up the air at the same time they continue to market vehicles that make the most money. Brady Dennis of the Washington Post calls it a “big deal,” even if Toyota, GM and 11 other companies revert to Trump’s new federal standards--at least for the moment. Alan Baum is a consultant for both the industry and environmental organizations. He says the four who made the deal with California have a slight lead on their competitors in developing the technology of the future, with China currently far ahead of them all. He says the western car makers are doing a poor job of educating consumers about the benefits of hybrids and electrics. Nichols’s history with the Air Resources Board goes back to the 1970’s. She was named Chair by Republican Governor Arnold Schwartenegger and reappointed by Democrats Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom. She made an international name for herself for years ago when she blew the whistle on Volkswagen for faking emissions tests on the diesel cars it sold for decades all over the world.

The 2020 presidential race has a crowded field of competitors, and many are making their way to Los Angeles for fundraisers, rallies, and other events. KCRW is tracking LA visits by…

Three shootings in the span of one week in California, Texas, and Ohio have community members and political leaders speaking out against gun violence and hateful rhetoric toward the…

Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before congress, but does he say anything new?

The annual Iowa State Fair is known as the unofficial start to campaign season.