Patt Morrison for Thursday, July 21, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 21, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

KPCC REPORTER FRANK STOLTZE SITS IN FOR PATT MORRISON

 

1:06 – 1:19

OPEN

 

 

1:21:30 – 1:39

Crowded, expensive jails & low crime rates vs. budget cuts & annual deficits: are California’s priorities changing?

It’s been a bit of a public safety renaissance in California over the past 20 years—crime rates across the state have been at consistently historic low levels and here in Los Angeles the streets are as safe as they’ve been since the 1960’s.  That kind of public safety comes with a high price tag and Californians have certainly been paying it, in the form of an increasingly crowded and expensive prison system that has played at least a small part in contributing to the state’s perpetual budget deficits.  After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order that California’s prison system must find immediate relief for its packed facilities, in the form of releasing over 33,000 inmates, a poll asking about opinions on the “three strikes” law and other tough-on-crime measures showed shifting priorities.  The economy is clearly the chief concern of Californians, according to a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and USC, and as a result we are starting to second guess the tough sentencing laws passed in recent decades.  60% of respondents, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and “decline to state” voters, said they would support reducing life sentences for third strike offenders convicting of property crimes.  Nearly 70% said they would approve of the early release of some low-level offenders whose crimes did not involve violence.

 

Is a safer California worth the high costs of incarceration or is time to reconsider our public safety priorities in the wake of a lousy economy and deficit-plagued budgets?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Alzheimer’s study suggests new link to lifestyle

Is there anything you can do to prevent getting Alzheimer’s, the complex degenerative brain disorder predicted to affect 1 in 85 people globally by 2050? Researchers didn’t used to think there was much of a link between lifestyle and developing the disease, but a new study presented at this week’s Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris and published in the journal Lancet Neurology, suggests that “modifiable risk factors”—like exercise, diet and mental activity—might actually make huge differences. According to the analysis, more than half of all cases are potentially preventable through simple lifestyle changes like exercising, quitting smoking and losing weight. That said, doctors caution that there are plenty of people who, regardless of doing everything “right,” will still develop the disease, but even a 10% reduction in risk factors could prevent 1.1 million cases worldwide. It’s just not yet clear which risk factors should be targeted first. Tune in to find out whether you should spend a free hour walking or doing Sudoku.

 

Guests:

NOT CONFIRMED:

ON THE STUDY:

Deborah Barnes, lead author on the study presented at this week’s Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris and published in the journal Lancet Neurology; she is also an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco

CALL HER @

 

ON WAYS TO MAKE LIFESTYLE CHANGES:

Debra Cherry, executive vice president of the Alzheimer’s Association’s California-Southland Chapter

CALL HER @

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:39

Skynet controls your traffic now: how a smart, integrated, real-time traffic system in NYC might help out L.A.

Since the mid-1980s, Los Angeles has been on the cutting edge of traffic monitoring (is that news to you, there, on the 405?) but this week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg rolled out a new weapon to fight midtown traffic. The massive $1.6 million program, paid in part by the federal government, connects traffic engineers in the Long Island City traffic command center to E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections across 110 Midtown blocks through wireless technology. The city hopes the new system will allow them to know when traffic jams erupt and give them the ability to immediately react and manipulate the length of traffic signals to ease those logjams. Ultimately, they plan to make that data available to drivers in the form of iPad and iPhone apps. Frank checks in for details on how New York is battling its traffic, what it’s learned from LA’s battles, and where Los Angeles stands now. Have we fallen off the cutting edge? Or is it just a whole different ballgame here?

 

Guests:

Rachel Weinberger, assistant professor of City & Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania; she served as the senior policy advisor for transportation to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in the development of PlaNYC, the city's 2030 sustainability plan

CALL HER @

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Stephen Ritchie, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Irvine

CALL HIM @

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Woody Guthrie: This segment kills fascists

Famed for such ubiquitous folk ballads as “This land is your land” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” -- Woody Guthrie has left an indelible mark on American folk music that has served as an inspiration for generations. Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen are among those that claim Guthrie as a role model in both form and message. But with history carrying on without his guitar strumming charm: how are we left to remember Guthrie in all his soft-spoken but folky-anger? Will Kaufman is here to talk about the “Dust Bowl Troubadour” himself in his new biography Woody Guthrie, American Rebel.

 

Guest:

Will Kaufman, professor of American literature and culture at the University of Central Lancashire, England. He is the author of three previous books, most recently American Culture in the 1970s

IN STUDIO

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org