Los Angeles Times
Reporter for the Los Angeles Times
PROFILE
Ben Welsh
Guest
FROM Ben Welsh
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Tenants vs. Landlords in Long Beach Long Beach renter Larry Watson hasn’t had running water in his apartment for at least two years. To use the toilet, his friends and neighbors carry in water and to take a shower he has to check into a motel. No, it’s not the drought... it’s landlord negligence. And this kind of story is not unusual for Long Beach, where more than half its residents are renters. Last night, the Long Beach City Council took the first step in approving a plan that would give renters more leverage over their landlords. Tenants, though, say the proposal doesn’t go far enough.
Which Way, L.A.?
A Culture of Bias in the Los Angeles Fire Department Mayor Garcetti has vowed to change the culture of the LA Fire Department. It's a major consideration as he searches for the city's next fire chief . In November a Superior Court awarded a little over a million dollars to a black firefighter, Jabari Jumaane, in compensation for the 30 years of discrimination he said he endured on the job. Over the previous year the agency paid out another million and a half dollars in bias cases, and from 2006 to 2010 LA Fire Department discrimination and harassment payouts cost taxpayers $17 million. Over the years these settlements have sparked reforms, including monitoring by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and a voter mandated independent assessor to oversee handling of misconduct complaints.
Recommended
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.