- Social:
California Department of Insurance
Press secretary for the California Department of Insurance; former communications director for California Prison Health Care Services
PROFILE
Nancy Kincaid
Guest
FROM Nancy Kincaid
Which Way, L.A.?
California's Wildfires: Reckoning and Recovery There are several human casualties so far, but major fires are still burning in Northern California, and there could be more. The Valley Fire has scorched much of Lake County and parts of Sonoma County, both North of Napa. The Butte Fire has charred Amador and Calavares Counties. Even as fires are still burning, negotiations with insurance companies are already under way. Some homeowners prepared for potential disaster by buying insurance — but others did not, and the details of insurance policies aren't always easy to understand. We update the personal cost of damage that's displaced some 20,000 people.
Which Way, L.A.?
Human Rights in the Hidden World of State Prisons On July 1, inmates at the Pelican Bay State Prison near the Oregon border began a hunger strike that ultimately involved 6600 prisoners in 13 of California's 33 institutions. Reporters were not allowed to talk to inmates, but representatives said they demanded caps to be worn in cold weather, calendars on cell walls, more lenient treatment in solitary confinement, and a change in "debriefings" that last so long prisoners are in danger of being labeled as "snitches." The hunger strike is over , but did settling it make things any better?
Which Way, L.A.?
California Prisons: Mercy or Madness? "If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we start?" That's the question from San Francisco's Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno, who wrote the new law providing that inmates who are incapacitated should be released on humanitarian grounds and to save money. But last week, at its first opportunity, the State Parole Board said "no" to a man whose spine was severed in a prison fight, so he can't move either his arms or his legs. His family has agreed to provide care and to pay for it. Note: The Parole Board refused our request to participate in today's program.
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To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
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
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.