Which Way, L.A.?
New Schools, But Not in My Backyard!
LA public schools are crowded to the bursting point, with 80 new campuses desperately needed. Yet, even though voters rate education as their first priority, many don-t want new schools in their back yards. Meantime, industrial contamination and high home prices have driven the School Board to look at low-income apartments, which are also in short supply. The situation has become so tense that last week Congresswoman Maxine Waters got into a shouting match with elected School Board member Genethia Hudley-Hayes about the critical competition between new schools and affordable housing. We hear more about the ongoing battle from LA Unified School Board President Caprice Young and the Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Survival. Newsmaker: Companies Manipulated California Energy Crisis Today's Wall Street Journal leads off with an investigative reprise of last summer's California energy crisis, which led to blackouts and state intervention costing tens of billions of dollars. Dynegy and Enron are both singled out as two of the energy suppliers who reaped massive profits by manipulating the newly deregulated market. Severn Borenstein, Director of the California Energy Institute, has more. Reporter's Notebook: Lifeguard Towers Get Overhaul on LA County Beaches For almost 100 years, Fire Department lifeguards have kept watch over Los Angeles County beaches from those light blue watchtowers that every beach-goer knows. Now, from the South Bay to the Ventura County line, 150 of those 158 towers are being replaced. KCRW's Paddy Hirsh reports on the little-noticed multi-million-dollar project that the Fire Department is calling a big improvement.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readLA public schools are crowded to the bursting point, with 80 new campuses desperately needed. Yet, even though voters rate education as their first priority, many don-t want new schools in their back yards. Meantime, industrial contamination and high home prices have driven the School Board to look at low-income apartments, which are also in short supply. The situation has become so tense that last week Congresswoman Maxine Waters got into a shouting match with elected School Board member Genethia Hudley-Hayes about the critical competition between new schools and affordable housing. We hear more about the ongoing battle from LA Unified School Board President Caprice Young and the Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Survival.
Companies Manipulated California Energy Crisis
Today's Wall Street Journal leads off with an investigative reprise of last summer's California energy crisis, which led to blackouts and state intervention costing tens of billions of dollars. Dynegy and Enron are both singled out as two of the energy suppliers who reaped massive profits by manipulating the newly deregulated market. Severn Borenstein, Director of the California Energy Institute, has more.
Lifeguard Towers Get Overhaul on LA County Beaches
For almost 100 years, Fire Department lifeguards have kept watch over Los Angeles County beaches from those light blue watchtowers that every beach-goer knows. Now, from the South Bay to the Ventura County line, 150 of those 158 towers are being replaced. KCRW's Paddy Hirsh reports on the little-noticed multi-million-dollar project that the Fire Department is calling a big improvement.
