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Wilderness on a plate: A California chef on his foraged feasts

Eliza Barclay | NPR — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:00:04 -0800

Steamed new harvest potatoes, cucumber, borage, and ice plant flower. Credit: Coi Restaurant

As the foraging trend attracts more enthusiasts, home cooks are learning local botany, and high-end chefs are turning this most traditional method of gathering food into a glamorous sport.

But few American chefs take foraging wild foods quite as seriously as Daniel Patterson, of Coi restaurant in San Francisco. At any given day, he might be cooking with clams, lichens, coastal spinach, Monterey Cypress, angelica root, and forest mushrooms — all native California foods from the beaches and forests a few dozen miles from his restaurant. (In 2010, on the Cook It Raw chef trip to Finland, he cooked beets in reindeer blood.)

"There are things that have natural harmonies, so we use them together, but in pursuit of something delicious, something meaningful, and resonant," Patterson told . His attention to the craft of foraging has earned him two highly coveted Michelin stars from some of the world's toughest food critics.

Patterson clearly has a knack for assembling bright leaves and flowers in a way that looks like they just fell off the tree. So does his food try to recreate those landscapes on the plate?

It turns out it's a little more nuanced than that.

"We live on the coast and that's very important, because it's a place where water and earth meet," says Patterson. "I'm inspired by this place; it's something worth capturing and fixing on the plate and serving to customers.

"But we try not to be too literal, and it's really important that a dish doesn't become a geographical study. It's more about capturing a feeling, emotion, sensibility. I think the echoes of nature that come out do so kind of organically rather than through intention."

Makes sense. After all, the forest and the beach have to stop somewhere — no one really wants dirt and grit and sand for dinner.

A year after Mubarak, where does Egypt stand?

NPR Staff | NPR — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:00:04 -0800

A municipal worker cleans a sidewalk Tuesday at the site of recent clashes between protesters and security forces near the Interior Ministry in Cairo Credit: Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo

A year ago today, tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square and celebrated a previously unimaginable achievement: the toppling of Hosni Mubarak.

But one year later, Egypt is far from stable and far from the democratic utopia many activists imagined. Is the nation better off?

Reporting from Cairo, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson says small groups of protesters now march around Tahrir Square demanding a quicker transition to democracy. They stand in stark contrast to the jubilant masses who came out to celebrate Mubarak's departure.

Tour guide Mohamed Gad el-Karim says Egyptians are worse off. The 22-year-old blames the ruling generals for mismanaging the country and accuses them of caring more about Mubarak, whose trial has dragged on for six months. He says the former president should be in prison, not the luxury hospital outside Cairo where he is being held.

Karim's sentiment is a common one in Egypt. It's what led university professors, students and union leaders to launch a nationwide strike on this anniversary, vowing to bring the country to a standstill unless the generals hand over power to civilian leaders.

That doesn't sit well with Sekina Hassan, a 50-year-old homemaker who watched the protesters parade around Tahrir Square. The strike and continuing protests are destructive, she says, adding that Egyptians will lose their country if it keeps up.

The ruling military council is sending the same message. In a statement read on state-run television, the council called the unrest a conspiracy meant to topple the state and spread chaos.

Meanwhile, Egypt's top military ruler met Saturday with U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The visit was kept low key as tensions are rising between the two governments. At issue is the recent crackdown on American and other pro-democracy groups and human rights organizations.

So far, 43 people, including 19 Americans, are accused of operating illegally in the country and spurring unrest. They are awaiting trial.

A Better Egypt Ahead

The question of whether Egypt is better off after Mubarak's ouster remains difficult to answer, but for Samer Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University, the answer is unquestionably yes.

Shehata tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz that under Mubarak, Egypt was turned into a "family business," in which he planned to hand over power to his younger son, Gamal.

"Political and economic corruption were rampant," Shehata says. "Police repression was the norm [and] elections were regularly fraudulent. There was no sense of vision for the future or even [the] possibility that things could improve."

With ongoing protests and violence escalating (dozens of people were recently killed), some would argue that Mubarak did bring a certain level of stability, but Shehata calls that stability a mirage.

"It wasn't a real stability based on popular sovereignty, a government that represented its people, civil and political rights [and] rule of law," he says. "It was repression."

Mubarak has left, but Shehata says there is still "Mubarakism" — many of the military generals he appointed are still running the show.

"This is what happens during transitions," he says. "Mubarak was in power since 1981; of course it's not going to be an easy or smooth or overnight transition. Unfortunately that's the reality of the situation."

Despite the tremendous difficulties Egypt now faces, Shehata says, things are much better and there is the possibility of forward progress.

An Imperfect Revolution

Raghida Dergham, a columnist and senior diplomatic correspondent for pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, believes the jury is still out on whether Egypt is in a better place.

Dergham tells NPR's Raz that Egyptians she's talked to are uncertain about the future.

"They feel there is instability, there is poverty [and] there is lack of real revolution in terms of the control of the military council," she says. "They feel, in addition to that, that there is an attempt by the Islamists to also have a monopoly on the political process."

The trouble right now, she says, is that the non-Islamist moderates do not know how to play politics with the army or with the Islamists. She says they are being further undercut by the West, including the U.S. and the Obama administration.

"You don't protect your interests by putting a distance with the moderates," she says. "These were the backbone of what America stands for. Don't undercut the moderates [or] it will really come back to haunt us."

Given all of this, she says, what people seem to miss most is the "glue" of the country Mubarak represented, even though they might not miss the dictatorship and his plans to hand over the country to his son.

Whitney Houston fans pay tribute at hotel where pop singer died

Corey Moore | KPCC — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:15 -0800

Flower tributes are left at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for Whitney Houston in the early hours of Feb. 12, 2012 in L.A. She had died hours before at the hotel. Credit: Toby Canham/Getty Images

A shrine of roses and lit candles stood on Saturday night near the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire, where fans of superstar Whitney Houston paid their respects. The legendary entertainer died in the hotel Saturday afternoon.

“It’s a real tear jerker that she had to go like that," said Connie Gordon of Cleveland, Ohio. "[She] died alone. That’s just so sad.” Gordon came to Los Angeles to attend the Grammys.

Thirty-four-year-old Karen Babajide of L.A. said she'll remember the pop artist for pulling through tough times.

“And that’s what I admire about her," said Babajide. "Anytime you can fall face down on the ground and pick yourself back up it’s amazing.”

Gloria Barber of L.A. most remembers a pregnant Houston in the 1993 video “I’m Every Woman” from the “The Bodyguard” soundtrack.

“She had her baby girl a month before I had my son and just her music and just all that she went through - just watching her life and it’s just sad,” Barber said.

Biggs Smith believes Houston’s celebrity worsened her struggle with drug addiction. Smith is a recovering alcoholic who’s 10 years sober.

“As long as you’re signing the check people look the other way," said Smith. "And that’s the sad part about it.”

Actor Monet Mitchell of Philadelphia filmed a small role several months ago in a movie Houston starred in: a remake of the 1976 classic “Sparkle.” Houston was also an executive producer on the film, which is reportedly scheduled to be released in August.

“She made me feel welcome," Mitchell said. "She told jokes and she definitely had a little diva, a little attitude with her. But if you’re a legend, you have to exude that confidence. But she also cared about people.”

Legendary record executive Clive Davis, who discovered and mentored Houston, hosted his annual pre-Grammy party at the hotel hours after Houston's death. Artists attending the party, where Houston had been scheduled to appear, doled out responses on the red carpet. They included Sheila E, who stopped to talk with NBC4.

"She was a wonderful person. She was a great friend. And, I’ll remember, she recently came to the last two performances that I just had here in LA. She was having a great time," she said.

Also among the attendees was producer Jimmy Jam, who had worked with Houston.

"There’s some bit of irony that Clive Davis was the one that introduced us and he’ll be the one to lead us through tonight, I think in a celebratory fashion," Jam said.

Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock attended the party with a heavy heart.

"This is going to change everything, but the spirit of Whitney Houston and her connection with the Grammys is going to be married in an incredible way," Hancock said.

The Grammy Awards start tonight a 5 p.m. at the Staples Center and will air on CBS at 8 p.m.

Romney edges a victory in Maine caucuses

Susan Sharon | Maine Public Broadcasting Network — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:04 -0800

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at a caucus in Portland, Maine, on Saturday. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Stung by a series of defeats earlier this week, Mitt Romney got a much-needed boost Saturday with a win in the straw poll of the Conservative Political Action Conference and a victory in Maine's nonbinding caucuses.

Yet Romney walked away without delegates and tallied fewer votes there than he did four years ago. This time, he barely beat rival Ron Paul.

Both candidates spent the morning wooing voters at caucuses in southern Maine. For Romney, a visit to a Portland elementary school Saturday followed a town hall-style meeting Friday night, his first in several weeks. In both places, he hammered home his commitment to conservative values.

"I have battled for religious liberty, and if I'm president of the United States, I will preserve the religious rights and liberties of Americans and protect our Constitutional rights," he said.

As the former governor of Massachusetts, Romney is well-known in Maine. He handily won the state's caucuses in 2008, but until his defeats earlier this week, he was absent from the state. Paul, meanwhile, visited the state several times and built a well-organized grassroots campaign.

"I feel very good. I have a lot of friends up here, a lot of excitement, and they sort of like my message," he says.

Paul says his message of freedom and less government seems to resonate well in Maine, better than in other parts of the country. Lewiston resident Nancy O'Brien showed up at her caucus to register support for Paul.

"He's the first honest politician going," she says.

O'Brien says she considered voting for Romney but was put off by comments he made about the poor.

"For Mitt Romney to stand up there saying he's not that concerned about the poor people or the little people — I'm sorry," she says, "There's thousands of us out there. We live from paycheck to paycheck."

Still, others view Romney's business and government experience as the best qualifications for the job. Rich Petersen of South Portland walked into Romney's town hall meeting Friday night undecided and says he walked out a convert.

"I was very impressed with the governor. I thought he did a fantastic job of answering some very direct questions," Peterson says.

Romney beat Paul by a margin of 39 to 36 percent. Rick Santorum finished third, despite never making a visit here. Paul's campaign complained that one caucus, in rural Washington County, was called off because of a snowstorm. Paul Madore, chairman of the Ron Paul campaign in Maine, says it was a deliberate effort by Romney supporters in Maine's GOP leadership to give the governor a boost.

"I think you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see it, really," he says.

Madore says Washington County offered potentially strong support for Paul. Maine's GOP chairman, Charlie Webster, says there's no way everyone who would have turned out at the caucus would have voted for Paul. He calls the campaign's allegations "unfortunate."

In May, Maine Republicans will choose 24 delegates to represent them at the national convention. The Paul campaign has now set its sights on winning those.

Whitney Houston dies in Beverly Hills at 48 (photos, videos)

KPCC & wires — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:16:32 -0800

Artist Whitney Houston performs onstage at the 37th Annual American Music Awards on Nov. 22, 2009 in Los Angeles. Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Publicist Kristen Foster announced her death Saturday. Authorities are trying to determine a cause of death. Houston was found unresponsive around 4 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Police said there were no signs of foul play or trauma.

Houston had been expected to attend a pre-Grammy musical tribute to music executive Clive Davis, her mentor. The L.A. Times reports Houston had been seen behaving erratically in the days leading up to her death.

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the mid 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists, wowing audiences with effortless, powerful vocals. Her vocal style was rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Houston's success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who sounded so much like Houston she first debuted that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

Houston seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

She began singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

Houston returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before declaring herself drug-free to Oprah Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," provided another example of her sad decline.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

This story has been updated.

Jerry Brown avoids tax issue

AP — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:55:54 -0800

California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks during the California Democrats Convention on Saturday in San Diego. The party's annual convention runs through Feb. 12. Credit: Gregory Bull/AP

Gov. Jerry Brown outlined an optimistic political agenda for California Democrats at their party's annual convention Saturday, pitching his accomplishments and goals as he sidestepped an internal party squabble about whether Democrats should support his tax initiative or those being offered by two other Democratically-aligned groups.

Brown discussed high-speed rail, education reform and the Dream Act for illegal immigrant college students during an enthusiastic address in San Diego. He said Democrats are poised to capture a two-thirds majority in the state Senate and said he hopes they also can retake Congress.

He also promoted his aggressive stance on alternative energy, saying he will not be deterred by critics.

"We're going to keep innovating. We didn't get here by being conventional, status quo, doing what everybody does. California has been number one because we lead," Brown said to cheers.

Many were waving signs that said "We're With Jerry" — an apparent reference to his November ballot proposal to raise the state's sales and income taxes temporarily to help fund education and local services. Brown has raised at least $2.2 million for the initiative and has begun a signature-drive to put it on the ballot, but he barely touched on the issue in his speech.

Brown told more than 2,000 Democrats they would "get your marching orders soon enough." He declined to answer reporters' questions after his speech.

Outside the convention center, about a dozen supporters of a ballot proposal that would raise the income tax rate on millionaires handed out pamphlets on the proposal and asked Democrats to join their signature drive. The California Federation of Teachers proposed that initiative and is supported by the powerful California Nurses Association.

"We're getting tons of support," said Kelly Mayhew, 47, an instructor at San Diego City College who was holding one of the petitions and handing out stickers supporting the proposal. "People are pretty fired up to do something. We're running a really positive campaign, and we feel really good about it."

A separate proposal by attorney Molly Munger, the daughter of a top executive with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is pushing a proposed initiative that would increase income taxes across-the-board on a sliding scale and raise $10 billion annually for 12 years. Her initiative is supported by the California Parent Teacher Association.

The three tax initiatives have been proposed to address California's chronic budget problems, which include a $9.2 billion deficit that lawmakers must close in the coming fiscal year.

They also have divided the Democratic Party's political support groups. For example, the state's largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association, supports Brown's plan, not the one offered by the smaller teachers union or the other one supported by the PTA.

Democrats returning from lunch also were greeted by a gauntlet of about 100 Occupy protesters who voiced various complaints and carried signs protesting military spending. They chanted "Don't just watch us, come and join us," and other slogans.

Many Democrats, some sporting buttons saying "We are the 99 Percent," stopped to chat with them.

Despite disagreement over the November tax initiatives and the protesters outside, California Democrats are in a buoyant mood this year.

They won every statewide office in 2010 and are expecting to gain more legislative and congressional seats this year.

An independent redistricting process has given the party the opportunity to gain a two-thirds majority in the state Senate, enough to raise taxes without Republican votes, and created a number of up-for-grabs seats in the nation's largest congressional delegation. Those include several seats Democrats think they can seize from Republicans.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the audience earlier Saturday that those California races will be central to the party's national strategy for regaining congressional seats they lost two years ago.

"Our state will prove critical to electing a Congress to work with our president instead of a Congress obstructing his every move," she said.

Pelosi said she expects California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas to leave the party only about a half-dozen seats short of a majority in the House. She declined to predict how many seats she anticipated picking up, saying only that she would be happy with the 25 needed to take control from Republicans.

California's congressional delegation now stands at 34 Democrats and 19 Republicans.

Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, dismissed the Democratic leader's remarks, saying Americans already have rejected her leadership.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is seeking re-election to a full fourth term this year, and other high-profile Democrats also addressed the convention on Saturday. They included state Attorney General Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Mild weather warming local budgets

Danielle Karson | NPR — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:51:36 -0800

Temperatures have been above normal in Chicago this winter, saving the city's snow removal budget millions of dollars. Credit: Jeffrey Phelps/AP

In January of last year, snow blanketed more than 42 percent of the country. Last month, it was just under 13 percent. The warm weather has lowered our heating bills and created a bit of an economic boost.

After two brutally long winters, the temperatures this year have been positively balmy. In the Washington, D.C., area, they've hovered in the 50s for much of the past two and a half months. Area landscapers, whose schedules are usually pretty lean this time of year, are busier. Take Chuck Dod Landscaping, which is building a stone wall in the backyard of a home in Mclean, Va.

"Most winters, we just plan for downsizing a bit," owner Chuck Dod says. "Normally, we're down to about 40 or 50-percent capacity. This year, we're running 75-80 percent of capacity."

Thanks to the milder temperatures, Dod says, his office has been fielding more calls.

"I think people are getting out more," he says. "If it was colder, [they] probably wouldn't be walking the neighborhood as much. Normally takes place a month or two later."

Warmer weather also helped bulk up the country's employment rolls in December and January. Construction workers are finding jobs when hiring is normally weak. Andrew Mawhorter is hauling chunks of stone to build the stone wall; he's happy to be on the payroll.

"The ground isn't frozen, so that's always good," he says.

And milder winter weather boosts economic growth in other ways.

"People are out; they're eating out," says Scott Bernhardt. He's president of Planalytics, which studies the weather's impact on business. "They're going to call restaurants, strip malls, all sorts of places like that — and spending money when they do so."

Bernhardt says many cities are usually busy cleaning up after winter storms. This year, local governments are saving tens of thousands of dollars because the snowplows and salt trucks are in dry dock.

In Chicago, where a single fierce blizzard blew through the snow budget last February, this month has barely put a dent in the city's $20 million snow removal budget — so far, anyway. In Maryland, more than half of the state's 200 or so road construction projects are usually put on hold in the winter. This year, many projects are going forward that would otherwise be shut down

"For example, we have a bridge project," offers Melinda Peters, the head of the Maryland State Highway Administration. "We were able to pour the bridge deck last week. Typically, that's not a winter activity because of temperature constraints."

But the milder weather hasn't been a shot in the arm for everyone. Many retailers are struggling to unload winter merchandise like snow shovels, hats and scarves. Planalytics' Bernhardt says weather becomes important in a dicey economy because people stick to buying necessities.

If people don't need scarves or hats, they don't buy them, he says, and this winter weather is saying don't buy them.

United Way offers free tax filing for low income families

Ashley Bailey | KPCC — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:22:59 -0800

Mayor Villaraigosa joins United Way of Greater Los Angeles President & CEO Elise Buik to launch the 2011 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Program. Credit: David Starkopf/Flickr

Tax time is coming and you may be able to get your returns done for free, thanks to the United Way.

They’ve set up volunteer centers across the country for low and middle income people who need help with their forms.

They also want to get the word out about the Earned Income Tax Credit, something many people overlook that could nevertheless save them thousands of dollars.

"We estimate that last year, we left about $300 million on the table," said Elise Buik, head of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. "We want to bring that money from D.C. to Los Angeles. It helps our economy, and more importantly, it helps families at a time when they’re struggling."

California plant to convert salt water to fresh water approved

Corey Moore | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:19:37 -0800

People take in the view from the front of a boat in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Seawater could become drinking water at a Huntington Beach plant within a few years. State water regulators at a meeting in Loma Linda on Friday approved a permit for the new facility.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to push forward plans for a plant that will convert about 50 million gallons of ocean water into drinking water every day.

That’s enough to supply at least a quarter of a million people in Orange County with fresh water.

Roughly 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered in water, yet only 0.3 percent is both fresh and available for human consumption.

A Connecticut-based firm proposed the desalination system and developers would build it on a 12-acre site near a coastal power plant. They say the facility will be the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere.

Its price tag is about $350 million, but the plant’s operators say taxpayers won’t have to pay for it.

Most area businesses, water agencies and lawmakers support the plan, maintaining that it’s an affordable way to provide a safe and reliable water supply.

However, some environmentalists contend that the system could kill fish and other sea life, since a state regulation that prohibits the use of seawater to cool power plants wouldn't apply to a desalination plant.

A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office predicts that 36 states will face water shortages by 2013... and McKinsey & Co. forecasts that global demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40 percent in 2030.

Alleged killer of Riverside cop Bonaminio faces trial in April

Steven Cuevas | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:58:06 -0800

Police caution tape Credit: Picture Perfect Pose/Flickr.com

A career criminal suspected of gunning down a Riverside cop in 2010 will face trial in April. Earl Ellis Green pleaded not guilty to first degree murder, but special circumstance allegations that come with his charge could send Green straight to death row.

Green is charged with killing 27-year-old policeman Ryan Bonaminio after he allegedly fled the scene of a hit-and-run crash in a stolen truck.

The sole eyewitness, a groundskeeper, says he saw Bonaminio chase Green into a park near the 60 Freeway. The witness told investigators that Green struck Bonaminio with a blunt object, then shot him three times with the officer’s .40 caliber pistol.

Fingerprints from the scene matched Green’s, and officers arrested him just two days after the killing.

Investigators later found Bonaminio’s weapon during a search of Green’s home.

The suspect faces special circumstance allegations of killing a police officer and committing murder to avoid arrest, meaning prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

Green’s attorney says his client won’t get a fair trial in Riverside because of intense publicity about the case. To help ensure an unbiased panel, the judge has pledged a thorough questioning process for prospective jurors.

State controller: California revenues $700 million behind expectations, 'disappointing on almost every front'

Julie Small | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:00:38 -0800

California state controller John Chiang (D) looks on as California governor-elect Jerry Brown speaks during a briefing on California's state budget Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In a written release, Controller John Chiang called January’s revenues "disappointing on almost every front." Personal income and corporate tax each lagged by a combined $700 million, and only the state sales tax managed to exceeded the mark, coming in $42 million higher than expected.

H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs at the California Department of Finance, said that it was unclear why personal income’s lagging but that its "something we're watching."

It could be that self-employed taxpayers underestimated what they owed the state in January and will pay more in April. Californians also may have delayed stock sales because of market conditions — or the governor’s team may have over-estimated capital gains income.

If the trend continues, state lawmakers will be forced to close a larger deficit next year.

California lawmakers won’t know why January revenues were low until the end of April, after they’ve counted all the tax returns. A spokesman for the legislative analyst says that given the uncertainty, lawmakers are likely to wait until May before making any major budget decisions.

Feds slam San Onofre nuclear plant, SoCal Edison for failing to follow their own procedures

Paige Osburn | KPCC & wires — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:54:31 -0800

Evening sets on the San Onofre atomic power plant December 6, 2004 in northern San Diego County, south of San Clemente, California. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Federal regulators have released a report blaming the November ammonia leak at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on employees who failed to recognize or fix degraded equipment.

The Nuclear Regulator Commission took a shot at Southern California Edison because they didn't follow their own procedures at the twin-reactor site about 45 miles north of San Diego and "failed to provide adequate procedural guidance to operations personnel."

The federal evaluation found workers "failed to adequately identify, evaluate and correct a problem" in the water purification system, which in turn led to the leak at the San Clemente plant.

The problem had "very low safety significance," according to the report. Two of the inspection's three "self-revealing" findings were determined to "involve violations of [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission] requirements."

While there was no public health risk and no one was hurt, some workers were evacuated at the time of the leak.

"The failure to take adequate corrective actions for degraded plant equipment was a performance deficiency. The performance deficiency is more than minor because" it resulted in an emergency alert, according to the report.

But watchdog groups have criticized SoCal Edison for not alerting the public for more than an hour after the Nov. 1 leak started in a storage tank.

Some workers were evacuated, but there was no public danger.

Meanwhile, the company is investigating a leak in a steam generator tube, as well as unusual wear in hundreds of tubes in the second plant.

SoCal Edison says it has made changes to address the findings.

The report came as the company investigates a separate leak in a relatively new steam generator tube that prompted the precautionary shut-down of one reactor.

National Institutes of Health seeks to educate and get more volunteers for clinical trials with new website

Stephanie O'Neill | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:42:16 -0800

Clinical trials are credited with such breakthroughs as curing the first solid tumor through chemotherapy to recognizing the benefits of nitroglycerin in response to heart attacks. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently launched a new website designed to educate the public about clinical trials and to (hopefully) attract more volunteers for the life-saving studies.

According to the NIH, it's the lack of public knowledge about clinical trials in medical research that poses the greatest challenge to scientists hoping to recruit volunteer subjects. It's a problem they're hoping to remedy through the new site.

Go to health.nih.gov and you’ll find all sorts of tidbits about clinical trials, which are credited with such breakthroughs as curing the first solid tumor through chemotherapy to recognizing the benefits of nitroglycerin in response to heart attacks.

The site explains the role of these human studies for identifying and understanding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, as well as providing visitors with information about the requirements of participation in clinical trials.

The NIH says clinical trials are vital to driving medical studies and improved health outcomes worldwide.

DNA evidence: Alleged murderer Lazarus a 1 in 402 quadrillion match

Nick Roman | KPCC & wires — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:31:51 -0800

Veteran LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, 49, appears at the Criminal Justice Center for her arraignment on murder charges June 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images

According to LAPD criminalist Jennifer Francis, DNA taken from the mouth of Stephanie Lazarus so closely matched saliva from a bite mark on her alleged victim, her ex-boyfriend's wife, that no one else on Earth could have produced the same result.

Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Michael Nunez, Francis said the genetic profile of Lazarus and the bite mark would be expected to be found in one in 402 quadrillion individuals.

Noting that the population of Earth is about 7 billion, Nunez said the statistic would mean on 100 million Earths the profile could not be duplicated.

"On our Earth would you expect to find another individual with the profile of Stephanie Lazarus and Exhibit 30 [the bite)]?" Nunez asked.

"No," said Francis.

As part of the initial investigation into Sherri Rasmussen’s murder 26 years ago, investigators routinely collected DNA samples from a bite mark on the dead woman’s left arm, who was shot to death at her Van Nuys home. Rasmussen had married Lazarus' ex-boyfriend John Ruetten just four months before.

Technology at the time failed to do much with the DNA, and the case was shelved.

However, the once-cold case was warmed up, a detective was assigned to follow Lazarus — now a decorated member of the LAPD's art-theft department. The detective retrieved a straw she’d tossed away outside a Costco store and brought it back for DNA testing. That was when the crime lab found they had a match.

Lazarus' attorney said in opening statements on Monday that the DNA from the bite mark wasn’t stored correctly and can’t be trusted.

Car horn symphony coming to LA, courtesy of artist Zefrey Throwell

Alex Cohen with Teresa Rosales | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:09:54 -0800

Passat CC R-Line Steering Wheel Retrofit Credit: jaronbrass/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

For his most recent project, artist Zefrey Throwell has decided to take to the highways. Throwell hopes to record the horns of 1,000 cars across Los Angeles, folding them into a sonic movement for the third piece of his "Entropy Symphony."

With the help of Los Angeles Nomadic Division, a non-profit public art initiative, hopeful participants send in the make and model of their car. Participants are then emailed an MP3 based on the tone of their car horn. This Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m., the selected musicians are to honk their horns in rhythm with the MP3, wherever they are.

“The entire symphony is about the sound society makes when the gears kind of grind to a halt,” said Throwell.

For the third movement of the conceptual “Entropy Symphony,” Throwell is flying into L.A. and asking the Hertz rental car company for their best horn. However, Throwell does have his own car horn tone preferences.

Throwell acknowledged, “I’m a big fan of the meat and potatoes of America — the Honda Civic horn is really something quite shrill and beautiful.”

The first movement recorded walkie-talkie responses as he ran rampant through the Whitney Museum in New York, attempting to break every museum rule he’d ever heard. Movement two took place in Berlin with 100 air horns playing in the streets throughout the entire city.

“People were out in a snowstorm playing the air horns across all of Berlin," Throwell added, "using it as the resonating chamber for the symphony."

Throwell was also the man behind "Ocularpation: Wall Street," a large-scale art project. Despite the name, it preceded the Occupy movement.

The five-minute outdoor performance stretched the entire length of Wall Street and featured each of the 50 performers enacting common Wall Street jobs — custodian, businessman, trader — while slowly striping nude.

"The idea came to me while talking to my mother," said Throwell on his website. (Warning: Some images on the site contain adult material). "She was a public school counselor for 30 years and was forced to come out of retirement to look for a job in her mid-60s because she lost almost all of her retirement savings in the crash of 2008."

"At first she was depressed, and then she became furious that the entire financial structure of Wall Street is almost totally opaque and inaccessible to many of the people it affects the most."

Correction: This story initially identified Zefrey Throwell as an L.A. artist, while he's actually based in New York.

UCLA program brings Latino doctors to underserved areas

Stephanie O'Neill | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:36:23 -0800

Dr. Blanca Campos (3rd from L, 1st row) standing with Executive Director Dr. Michelle Bholat (3rd from R, 1st row), former program coordinator Ana Jimenez (1st row R), Associate Director Patrick T. Dowling (3rd from L, 2nd row) and Blanca's graduating class of UCLA IMG colleagues in their program's headquarters. Credit: Courtesy of UCLA International Medical Graduates

As California’s Latino population grows, so too does the need for doctors who speak fluent Spanish and who understand the Latino culture. Yet proportionately, few Latinos graduate from medical schools in California, and that’s created a void that threatens care to Spanish-speaking populations. But UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine has a solution in its novel International Medical Graduate's (IMG) program.

Dr. Blanca Campos was among the first to complete the program. For the past six months, she's spent her days seeing patients at the Wilmington Family Health Center. Most of her patients are Spanish-speakers who struggle with English, if they can speak it at all.

"Most of them are illegal, some are legal," Campos says. "Most of them don’t have jobs. You’ll see a lot of patients who have lost their insurances and are looking for clinics like this to help them with their basic needs."

Campos, 38, is a native of Belize. She’s among more than three dozen native Spanish-speaking medical school graduates hand-picked by UCLA to help fill California’s shortage of bilingual and bi-cultural Latino doctors. The UCLA program, offered through the university’s Department of Family Medicine, is the only one in the nation to address the linguistic and cultural barriers that stand between most US doctors and their Latino patients.

Campos says Spanish-speaking doctors are key to bringing quality medical care to the state's underserved communities, "because we understand how they grow up; we understand certain terminology that they use in Spanish that may not be in medical books, but we’ve heard it before and we understand what it means."

Without doctors like Campos, the aches and pains that lead to clinic visits can get lost in translation. And that often results in wasted dollars and poor medical care for many native-Spanish speakers.

"It leads to misdiagnosis and misunderstanding and errors and often a tremendous amount of over-testing," says Dr. Patrick Dowling, chairman of UCLA’s Department of Family Medicine. Six years ago, he started the IMG program that operates solely on private grants and donations. The program provides stipends for resident doctors as they study for their U-S medical exams. In exchange, the doctors commit to practicing medicine for up to three years in California’s low-income communities.

"When you don’t know what the patient’s saying, the easiest thing to do is refer them on for more testing," he says, which leads to costly and ineffective medical care. Yet that's becoming more commonplace in a state that graduates slightly more than a hundred Latino med students each year. "And it’s not clear how many of those are fluent in Spanish or have ever lived in or understand that culture."

Dowling’s colleague, Dr. Michelle Bholat, is executive director of the IMG program that each year admits only about a dozen med school grads who meet narrow criteria:

"The ideal candidates are those that were born and raised in a Latin American Country; who have lived and worked in the United States and have learned to speak the language with some level of fluency," she says.

Foreign doctors who apply to the UCLA program must be US citizens or legal residents. For many potential candidates, that can mean working for years at jobs unrelated to medicine. Bholat says one of the doctors who applied for legal residency earned money as a book binder; another made and sold tamales – and yet another worked as a maid.

"She was 'Doctora Pion,' and when she got over here, she was somebody’s house cleaner."

Colombia native, Ingrid Sarmiento, is among the newest batch of UCLA international residents. She came to California under political asylum for death threats she received after providing medical care to a rebel. Now, she says, she's eager to show her thanks to the U.S.

"The United States has been a great support for me," Sarmiento says. "And I want to give them back. I’m going to be a great physician and I’m going to help people. That’s for sure."

And Sarmiento’s help is certain to become even more necessary as the year 2014 approaches. That’s when an estimated five million more Californians — many of them Latinos — are expected to become insured under the federal health care reform law. Dowling says it's his hope that all California med schools will begin recruiting bi-cultural, Spanish-speaking doctors to meet that need.

California attorney general extracts something extra from the big banks

Brian Watt | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:53:36 -0800

California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Obsolete

Forty-nine states signed on to a $25 billion settlement between the Obama administration and the largest mortgage servicers involved in the foreclosure crisis. California was one of the last holdouts because State Attorney General Kamala Harris wanted a better deal. She may have gotten one: Harris calls it “The California Commitment.”

She pulled out of the multi-state settlement negotiations last year because at that point, there was only $4 billion in it for California. According to Harris, the banks, including Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, now have committed $18 billion to the Golden State alone.

"This issue has never been about anything other than allowing homeowners, hardworking people, to stay in their homes," Harris said on Thursday at a news conference in downtown L.A. "And we were very determined to make sure that California — the hardest hit in the country — would receive its fair share."

Californians who owe more than their homes are worth will get $12 billion, so they can write down their mortgage principals or set up a short sale. And, Harris continued, the banks won’t get credit for simply promising relief.

"There’s a simple principle in law – and in particular contract law – which is the deal ain’t done when it’s based on a promise," she said. "It’s based on a promise and acceptance and then performance."

California’s settlement also requires the banks to start the relief in the areas most soaked by underwater mortgages.

"We wanted to make sure that places like Boyle Heights received priority, so we built into this a California commitment that requires the banks, through an incentive and a penalty, to focus on our hardest-hit communities," Harris said.

Harris went on to say that under the California settlement, if the banks drag their feet, she can drag them into state court.

"It’s so scary to have the hope and to have it crushed again," said Sharne Matson about the settlement.

Matson lives in a six-bedroom house in Acton with her parents, husband and four children. They paid $900,000 for the house. Now it’s worth less than half that much. When a car accident forced her to retire from the Air Force a few years ago, she says she contacted Wells Fargo about modifying the family mortgage. It’s been a confusing runaround ever since.

"I don’t want to have hope because there were so many times for those two years where someone would tell me it was OK, and they were gonna do this and do that. We had several different companies trying to help us."

But none of them did, Matson said. Her parents emptied their life savings just to stay in the home. She’s not sure if the new settlement means she’ll be able to line up a loan modification from her bank.

"I will do what they tell me to do," Matson said. "I just hope that they have their ducks in a row, because they certainly did not before when they were doing – or attempting to do – modifications because they weren’t doing that."

Pan African Film Festival features black-themed films from around the world

Corey Moore | KPCC — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:49:24 -0800

Credit: Screenshot from "Chico & Rita"

Starting this weekend, thousands of film buffs will pack a Los Angeles multiplex to support dozens of independent movies about the African diaspora from around the world. The Pan African Film and Arts Festival returns to Baldwin Hills for its 20th anniversary.

In 1992, festival executive director Ayuko Babu helped launch the festival at the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

“There was a brand new theater, brand new Virgin Records store ... and we had all five screens,” Babu recalled.

Babu’s voice maintained a steady rhythm as he spoke about the history of the event that gathers filmmakers from Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States. But he paused a bit as he reflected on the way his father – who’d had an extramarital affair - shared with him a memory of visiting a “picture show.” That’s what folks called films in the 1940s.

The movie Babu’s dad saw in Amarillo, Texas was so powerful it changed his life.

“The story’s about a man who had children that he didn’t take care of," said Babu. "And the children had a hard life and the man had a terrible life. And he made up his mind right then at the movies that he would take care of me and my brother.”

Babu’s father didn’t recall what movie that was or who starred in it. But he remembered the film’s powerful themes of reconciliation and responsibility. Babu said the conversation with his dad just before he died helped motivate him to launch the first Pan African Film Festival.

Roman Michael of LA, 27, said he’s eager to show his movie to festival audiences. It’s a drama called “5 Minutes.” It’s about a black attorney’s obsession with being on time and the way that threatens his relationship with his son:

“The budget was about $30,000," Michael said. "And it was very difficult to do. I actually quit my job to pursue this vision and this dream that I had so I could really devote all my attention on it.”

Michael fused his credit cards to pay for the film; he also knocked on lots of doors to ask for money. He wrote the script, assembled a crew and he starred in it. Tickets for at least one of Michael’s festival screenings have already sold out.

Throughout the next 10 days organizers will show about 150 movie, including features, documentaries and short films.

Yep, plenty to choose from.

Education consultant Graciela Italiano-Thomas is from South America. Her husband Mckinley, a retiree, was born in Mississippi. They sat together at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza food court scribbling notes in a festival program, mapping out the movies they plan to see, including "films that address mythical issues in Africa as well as women’s issues,” Italiano-Thomas said.

Her husband chimed in.

“There’s a reference here having to do with ‘no liberation for lesbian and gay categories of individuals.' I thought that was very sensitive on the part of the film festival to bring that in and it critiques how the African American church has been remised. That was the reference.”

Shea Harrison produced that documentary, called “LA Black Lesbians: The Black Church.”

There’s also buzz about another documentary: “The Education of Auma Obama,” which explores the President’s campaign four years ago through the eyes of his native Kenyan sister.

Nigerian-born Branwen Okpako directed the project.

“He needed to find out about his African roots and she was able to help him gain access to the family and to the story of the family – on with which she had to of course spend her life dealing with and balancing,” Okpako said.

At least one festival entry is an Oscar nominee this year. It’s “Chico & Rita” – an animated musical love story set against the backdrops of Havana and New York during the 1940s.

Chico & Rita - Official US Trailer from GKIDS on Vimeo.

Festival director Ayuko Babu said that each year, the event selects films that steer clear of stereotypical black images that he maintains Hollywood – and even successful filmmakers beyond "Tinsel Town" – tend to portray.

Even though that kind of movie generates box office success, Babu counsels aspiring filmmakers: Don’t aim to make millions of dollars.

“You can maintain your conscience because you don’t have to sell out... you have less compromises and you can still do conscious work,” Babu emphasized.

Festival organizers will exhibit more than just films. Patrons can attend art displays, fashion shows, children’s events and workshops sponsored by Black Enterprise and the Organization of Black Screenwriters. The Pan African festival spills out of the Rave Cinemas into the adjacent Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall through February 20th.

Man arrested for threatening Madonna escapes LA mental hospital

KPCC & wires — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:16:34 -0800

Madonna accepts award for Best Original Song - Motion Picture " Masterpiece" during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Credit: Handout/Getty Images

A man once convicted of threatening to kill Madonna walked away from his L.A. mental hospital last week, and the LAPD is still searching for him.

Los Angeles police say Robert Dewey Hoskins left a state hospital where he had been committed last year.

"Hoskins is a very psychotic man when not taking his medication and has very violent tendencies," the LAPD said in a news release on Thursday.

Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence for stalking and threatening Madonna, and court records show he was convicted of vandalism in July 2011. The singer testified against him during his 1996 trial.

"He had a really crazy look in his eyes and he was staring at me in a very strange way," said Madonna during the trial, reported the Los Angeles Times in 1996.

She closed her eyes as she described an encounter with Hoskins: "I said something like, 'It looks like the freaks are out today.' I said it in a half-joking manner, but I was actually very disturbed about the look in his eye."

Hoskins also threatened her then-secretary Caresse Henry, saying he could "slice her throat from ear to ear" and kill everybody in the house if she didn't let him see Madonna.

Police say they have searched areas where Hoskins may try to go, including Long Beach.

Riot at San Quentin prison involves 200, injures 4

AP — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:50 -0800

A view of the California State Prison at San Quentin May 15, 2009 in San Quentin, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

At least four inmates at San Quentin State Prison were seriously injured Thursday morning when a riot broke out in the exercise yard, according to prison officials.

Prison spokesman Gabe Walters said between 150 and 200 prisoners were involved in the Thursday morning riot. Dozens were slashed and stabbed by fellow prisoners armed with homemade weapons.

Walters says San Quentin guards used chemicals such as pepper spray, projectiles and real bullets to restore order. None of them were injured.

The four most seriously injured inmates were taken to local hospitals. Walters says it's so far unknown if they were hurt by other inmates or by guards.

San Quentin is a maximum security prison that house's California's death row. The exercise yard where the disturbance broke out serves fairly recent arrivals whose security status still is under review.

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