Which Way, L.A.?
California Meat Recall Goes Nationwide
Nine million pounds of beef from a California slaughterhouse have been recalled as "unsound, unwholesome or otherwise… unfit" for consumers. But nobody's gotten sick, and...
Nine million pounds of beef from a California slaughterhouse have been recalled as "unsound, unwholesome or otherwise… unfit" for consumers. But nobody's reportedly sick, and small, organic producers insist they followed their grass-fed cattle from birth through the slaughtering process all the way back to their freezers--and that the meat is perfectly healthy. Are they the victims of a crude regulatory process and an industry that's become a monopoly? Also, three years after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, scientists are watching for radiation on the coast of California.
Later, on To the Point, can businesses refuse service to gays and lesbians if it violates their owners' religious freedoms, or is that outright discrimination? Can valuable new rights be protected without infringing on cherished old rights?
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In this episode
3 storiesJail Officials Have a New Plan for Releasing Inmates Early
The nation's biggest jail system is not big enough to hold all the people sentenced to serve time, and the state's realignment program has increased the pressure for early releases. Interim Sheriff John Scott will be asking the Board of Supervisors for a new, computerized system for assessing which inmates are least likely to commit new crimes.
Read the story5 minHow Safe Is California Beef?
The Agriculture Department is conducting a criminal investigation into Rancho Feeding, one of California's few slaughterhouses. It's now closed. Two separate recalls — involving nine million pounds of beef — have now reached to 35 other states and Guam.
Read the story17 min'Kelp Watch' Looks for Effect of Fukushima on Our Coast
Tomorrow, it will be three years since the earthquake that produced a tsunami and nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima. Radioactive contaminants are due to arrive later this year from Japan. California scientists have established what they call " Kelp Watch 2014 ," and KCRW producer Benjamin Gottlieb took to the seas to find out what that means.
Read the story5 min