For many Californians, Tax Day this year means writing a check to Uncle Sam. President Donald Trump, and the GOP’s new tax laws, are hitting high tax states, such as California and New York, extremely hard. Is there anything you can do?

Alex Villanueva has a mandate and he does not care who – or what – gets in his way. At least, that’s how the newly minted Sheriff of L.A. County has positioned himself during his first few months in office. Villanueva won in an election last November and that political victory has given him an awful lot of autonomy when it comes to running his department. But he's not free from scrutiny, and there’s been plenty of it this year.

In less than a week from now, Disney and 20th Century-Fox will be one. It is by far the biggest entertainment merger in recent memory, and anxiety is high on the Fox lot.  There are jobs in accounting, marketing and beyond that could soon be rendered redundant under a Disney umbrella.  What will happen to those employees and the Fox brand? 

Bernie Sanders and his 2016 campaign helped usher in a new generation of politicians and brought several progressive ideas to the Democratic Party platform. But that's not enough for the Vermont Senator. He has his eyes on 2020.

Plans for the high-speed rail project originally meant to connect L.A. and San Francisco - are now derailed. At least, so it seems. Governor Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State address this week that he was going to shorten its construction to connect only Merced and Bakersfield. But the Governor is now resisting how most news outlets - and President Trump - have characterizes his plans.

There’s another big awards show this weekend in Los Angeles. And this one, like some others, is trying to move past controversy that concerns inclusion. The Grammy Awards actually expanded the number of nominees competing in the 4 big categories, all in hopes of getting more gender and racial diversity. But will that work?

President Trump’s intelligence team went to Capitol Hill this week for their yearly update to the Congress. But Trump did not like what they said and how it was covered. So he contradicted them and blamed the media for mischaracterizing their comments.

Some parts of Southern California got more than five inches of rain this week, in a series of storm systems that hit the area one after the other. What climate scientists describe as an atmospheric river is behind the weather pattern that brought those torrents of rains and even unusual blizzard conditions in higher elevations. The rain put a big dent in the drought. But, as you’re probably well-aware, the rain can stop for months and months and – voila! – here we are, in a big drought again. So what’s behind this pendulum swing, and what can state officials do about capitalizing on the precious water that falls?

Higher salaries, larger class sizes, more counselors, librarians and nurses. Those are just some of the demands that members of United Teachers, Los Angeles - the union that represents teachers' at LAUSD - are asking for. And if you think those demands sound familiar, that is because they are the same things teachers in other parts of the country have asked for in the past few years. But now a strike seems imminent and that is raising concerns about how students will be affected.

Jerry Brown is still the Governor of California. But not for long. He’s termed out – and on his way out – in January, when Gavin Newsom is set to take over as the state’s chief executive. Brown has been in public service for nearly half a century and when you service that long, you build a reputation for yourself. He’s known as being fiscally responsible. However, his legacy infrastructure projects – from high speed rail to water tunnels – have been mired in controversy, so far. So, when it comes to criminal justice reform, just how will the Governor be remembered?

Thousands of Californians are spending the holidays deciding what to do next after devastating wildfires. The Camp Fire – in northern California – took out nearly an entire town, killing at least 86 people. And the Woolsey Fire, closer to home, left 3 people dead, chewing through nearly 100,000 acres in L.A. and Ventura Counties. Ken Pimlott knows those names all too well. He heads up the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and today is his last day on the job.

A look at how California's new governor may interact with the legislature.

Barring any unforeseen changes, there will be a new L.A. County Sheriff at the start of next week. Alex Villanueva defeated sitting Sheriff, Jim McDonnell, in this month’s midterms after running a partisan campaign that lead to the first ouster of a sitting Sheriff in more than a century. Villanueva told KCRW this week that his goal is to rid the department of officials that, he said, contributed to a corrupt culture under previous leadership. But there is a lot of concern about what that will look like and if recent reforms could be rolled back.

The fires rage on in our own backyard, and in Northern California, encompassing tens of thousands of acres each. In L-A and Ventura Counties, the Woolsey Fire has scorched everything in its path. To the north, in Butte County, the Camp Fire has charred and destroyed even more acreage, of trees, brush and everything else, north of Sacramento, and the town of Paradise is a scene of utter devastation and heartbreak.

Across the country, early voting for Tuesday's midterm election has been happening in record numbers, but here in California, the numbers aren’t that impressive. So, who can we count on to show up on Tuesday when polls open?

The measure that’s raked in the most money on California's November ballot is not over rent control or the state’s recently passed gas tax – it's about kidney dialysis

NPR's international correspondent Carrie Kahn and KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh join host Steve Chiotakis to give the latest from both sides of the wall.

The U.S. border with Mexico has become a linchpin in American politics under the administration of Donald Trump.

With key votes expected by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, Brett Kavanaugh is likely to be confirmed as the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Two Senators who don’t support Kavanaugh represent California: Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. And both have played pivotal, if limited, roles in the confirmation and hearing process up to this point.

Ten years ago this month, Wall Street – and every other economic barometer – was in free fall. And that financial crisis was also a housing crisis. Some of the worst areas hit were communities all along Southern California’s I-15 freeway, from Rancho Cucamonga in the north… to Lake Elsinore in the south. So what happened, and how's life along the 'Foreclosure Alley' now?

How has Trump been able to - so effectively - dance around scandal after scandal?

The acreage keeps ticking up on a stubborn wildfire burning in a part of California that hasn’t in several decades. At last check, the Holy Fire has charred more than 18,000 acres. And with containment sitting in the single digits, it’s not looking like this will be put out soon. The fire is threatening homes and causing a host of other problems for residents living near the flames and downwind.

The LAPD has shot and killed 2 innocent people in the past several weeks during police activity. The tragedies have prompted apologies from the Chief of Police and possible legal action. They have also spurred a broader conversation around when police officers should use their weapons, especially when there are a lot of people around.

Facebook and Twitter took some big losses this week after reporting some less-than-projected earnings. The numbers coincide some recent changes made by both social media giants, including the beginnings of a crackdown on who can post and what they can say. Is being the adult in the room bad for business?

Just a couple of weeks ago, temperatures hit all-time record highs in a number of places and, with heat, comes the possibility of ignition.

Twelve Russian military intelligence officers hacked into the Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party and released tens of thousands of private communications in a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election. That is according to an indictment announced days before President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. All of this comes on the same day that California's top election official certified the results of last month's election.

The World Cup is easily the most-watched sporting event on earth and here in Los Angeles, there has been plenty of attention to what’s happening half a world away.

This week featured a narrative coming out of the White House that, if you take all the punditry and analysis out, flies in the face of logic.

California-based automaker Tesla announced this week that it will be laying off a slice of its workforce. It comes amid concerns about the production levels of their newer Model 3 sedan, ordered by hundreds of thousands, yet produced at a snail’s pace. Can CEO Elon Musk turn things around?

House Republicans came up short, again, in an effort to produce some sort of immigration compromise. It is an issue that united Democrats, but has split conservative and moderate factions of the GOP. For the second time this week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy gathered the factions, and emerged without a deal. There could be a vote on the issue, whether Speaker Paul Ryan wants it or not and it comes as immigration policies are having profound effects at the border.

California Democrats are banking that the anti-Trump movement will thrust their candidates into seats that have not been blue in decades. But in recent weeks, there has been some push back to that push back. What does it all mean for myriad Congressional races, heading into the primary?

The race to replace retiring LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is coming down to the wire. This week, the L-A Police Commission named its three finalists. All have ties to the department and all come from diverse backgrounds. But not in the way that many City Hall insiders had hoped.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti invited a handful of journalists to City Hall to talk about... anything. No format. No rules. KCRW's Saul Gonzalez was one of those invited. He joins Steve Chiotakis this week on The Friday Mixer.

There is little debate that the character 'Apu' from The Simpsons is a stereotype of an Indian immigrant shop owner. But recently, that character has come under renewed criticism, and the man who voices him says he is even willing to stop doing it. Should he?

It’s been nearly 5 months since sales of recreational marijuana became legal in California. And the business of pot is slowly coming into its own. But there are a lot of things that are dragging, not at all helped by the fact that marijuana is still listed as a schedule one substance that is open to federal criminal prosecution.

This week, Facebook said it would stop spending money to fight a possible initiative aimed at increasing data privacy in California. Backers are gathering signatures to put a proposal on the November ballot. The social media giant’s statement comes after the company’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, took a grilling from Congress over the company’s handling of user data. How much will really change?

President Donald Trump says he wants to send between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. The Republican governors of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona have all cheered Trump’s decision. But conversations between the administration and Governor Jerry Brown’s office are said to be “sensitive," and Brown himself has been uncharacteristically silent.

Tens of thousands of people in cities across the country are set to take to the streets tomorrow, in a march calling for the end gun violence and mass shootings in American schools.

Hollywood's biggest night, the Oscars, is this weekend. What really happens after you win?

From Riverside County, to South Whittier, Castaic, to most recently, today – Harvard Westlake. There’s been a rash of shooting threats this week by students at local schools. Those threats have increased in the days since a gunman killed 17 people at South Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. And they have local leaders - even the President - searching for possible solutions.

The Senate has left hundreds of thousands of "Dreamer" immigrants in limbo, rejecting rival plans that would have spared them from deportation and strengthened the nation's border security. This coincides with some new, aggressive ICE raids in the Los Angeles area.

The L.A. County District Attorney’s office is taking a closer look at the City of Maywood. It executed several search warrants this week at Maywood City Hall, along with some other locations including the home and business of the city’s mayor, Ramon Medina. The raids do follow a recent, state audit that criticized the city of Maywood for poor oversight of its finances.

Did state officials declare the drought over, too early?

Jerry Brown took jabs at the White House, defended his legacy infrastructure projects and - generally - painted a rosy picture of California during his final "state of the state" address as Governor. But there still a number of lingering questions, including who will replace him.

Journalists at the L.A. Times voted overwhelmingly today to unionize, the first time they have done so in more than 130 years.

KCRW's Steve Chiotakis speaks with KCRW's Kathryn Barnes and Santa Barbara Independent's Keith Hamm about how a rain storm escalated into a deadly disaster in Montecito.

Whether its marijuana, immigration, offshore drilling or border security, California and the Trump Administration continue to find themselves on the opposite side of major policy issues. Which one will blink first?

We are getting a clearer picture about the alt-newspaper L-A Weekly’s new direction.

After today, call him Warren Olney, 3.0.  After 25 years in TV, and 25 years of radio, the venerable broadcaster and journalist is moving to a new medium: podcasting.

According to the latest count, the homeless population jumped 23 percent from 2016 to 2017 in L.A. County… and now totals 58,000 people.

News comes as a group of women, claiming widespread sexual misconduct at the California state Capitol, continue to criticize the slow initial responses from legislative leaders.

The L.A. Dodgers are headed back to the World Series for the first time in a generation. They have, so far, dominated their competition with a combination of timely hitting and superb pitching. But did we expect anything less from the team with the highest payroll in baseball? 

Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused roughly two dozen fires that're burning in Northern California.

 A lot of folks this week are wondering what can be done about the gun violence that plagues this country especially when people have access to weapons that can be enhanced.

Home prices in L.A. County are up by nearly 10 percent over last year.

A judge today sentenced the worst mass shooter, in recorded Orange County history, to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.  Scott Dekraai admitted to killing eight people back in 2011 at a salon in Seal Beach.  Orange County prosecutors wanted the death penalty. But the D.A.'s office got kicked off the case. Now that the sentencing is over, what's next for O.C. D.A Tony Rackauckas.

We explore why the rush is on at the California statehouse.

The Trump administration is expected to make an announcement on the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which protects hundreds of thousands of people brought to the U.S. as young children. We talk with Oswaldo Borraez of Univision and Lisa Mascaro of the L.A. Times about what an end to the program might mean for the so-called DREAMers.

America has certainly seen its share of division. As democracies go, the USA has survived attacks from outside and within. So many conflicts and wars, enemies and combatants that’ve parted the nation’s people, only to have the country brought together again. Maybe. Whatever your belief – and there are some strong beliefs – the nation has turned to healing and unity through music.

What happens if you don’t like your local representative? How do you get rid of them?

This week, federal scientists confirmed that last year was the Earth’s warmest on record.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is once again taking steps to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities.

Voters approved new taxes on themselves to help address the 23 percent jump of homelessness in L.A.

When it gets hot in California, utilities are quick to tell you to watch your electricity use.

Why L.A. City Council member Mitch Englander wants a full investigation into all LAPD youth programs.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is an ardent opponent of weed legalization he's now targeting medical marijuana providers.

California finds itself at the center of the rise - and resistance to - President Donald Trump and his policies.

California lawmakers took the first step in approving a single-payer health care plan.

For the first time in its history, the school board over at LAUSD will have a pro-charter majority. LAUSD President Steve Zimmer lost his seat to Nick Melvoin, in a race that’s been called one of the most expensive school board election ever in the U-S. Melvoin benefited from millions of dollars in outside spending by pro-charter groups. Will he be able to deliver on their priorities?

Governor Jerry Brown says the state legislature should keep a tight lid on money headed to the University of California system until it makes some major changes. A scathing audit found the U.C. failed to disclose a $175 million reserve fund and – at the same time – raised tuition for its students. It's a small part of the overall $183 billion budget, but could bring about some fireworks at next week's Board of Regents meeting.

They all voted for it. But now, they own it. 

Tomorrow marks 25 years since the verdict – and aftermath – that changed L-A.

California state senators - Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein - hosted town halls to try and rally their supporters around their issues: health care, immigration, the middle class and opposition to Trump.

In North Korea, military parades will mark the 105th anniversary of the birth the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15. And it's possible Pyongyang may punctuate the day with a nuclear missle test.

A new poll out of U.C. Berkeley finds that 8 in 10 registered Republicans in California have little to no trust in the news media. They also believe the media is unfair to President Donald Trump. It's the exact opposite when it comes to state Democrats. In this climate, what incentive do the two parties have to work together?

In a surprise move, House Speaker Paul Ryan cancelled Friday's vote on the new health care bill after failing to secure enough support from his own party. It’s a major political defeat for the GOP and a campaign promise the President won’t be able to fulfill – for now. In California, it's business as usual for the state exchange.

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is due back in court on Monday. This time, it's not for testimony or closing arguments, but for sentencing. He faces up to 20 years in prison after being convicted on three federal charges. His conviction is the highest profile win for the U.S. Attorney's office, so far, in its investigation of the Sheriff's Department.

California technology companies are heavily reliant on workers from foreign countries. And there is concern that President Donald Trump’s latest temporary travel ban could lead to a brain drain for technology companies in the state. Where Silicon Valley - and Beach - clash, and where they line up, with the new administration.

Access to information is easier than ever before, but not all of it is credible and a recent study shows the younger generation is having a tougher time discerning what's real from what's fake.

You can’t throw a rock at a public park or major thoroughfare here in L-A without a protest or gathering going on with chanting people and signs. Immigration – and the fate of undocumented immigrants – is obviously of great concern to many here in California.The temporary travel ban is also affecting Hollywood in one particular way, and that’s having repercussions on, this, Oscar weekend.

California is – by far – home to the most people lacking legal status in the U-S. And so, it would stand to reason that when Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement carry out an operation, California feels it the most. But for families of undocumented immigrants – and activist groups – recent federal raids are the source of uncertainty… even paranoia. They directly blame President Donald Trump’s rhetoric – and executive orders on immigration – for tearing families apart. Others argue the Obama administration laid the groundwork for increased raids.

The idea of a “town hall” is as old as colonial America. At GOP-hosted town halls since the election of President Trump… protesters continue to shout down their representatives and demand action. Is this part of an organized movement… or simply lingering frustrations from the general election?

Two weeks into the Donald Trump administration, and the state is well into a full-on pushback of Trump administration policies that have been… or have yet to be… announced.

The French historian and aristocrat Alex de Tocqueville famously came to America and wrote a book about early American life and how the nation embodied electoral evolution. On this day of the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America, author James Poulos has a book of his own that attempts to look at modern America through the lens of a man who tried to get to the roots of historic America.

With a fiery news conference this week, and the information - true or not - flowing into newsrooms, journalists are having to adjust to the incoming Trump administration.

An intense series of storms are on their way to the west coast, and California’s central coast is the bullseye. 

The internet is chock-full of stories disseminated by everyone from the New York and LA Times to the Wall Street Journal… and New York Post.

A federal judge in LA has dismissed a lawsuit over how much actors should be paid when they perform in small theaters. 

The auto industry is a $2.3 trillion global business, and close to 3.5% of the total U.S. economy. What will it look like in the coming Trump Era? Tod Mesirow joins Steve Chiotakis to look into it.

In times of dramatic change, music has power to soothe, heal, provide an outlet and a voice for a variety of emotions. A post-election music roundtable with KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Eric J. Lawrence.

With the amount of information about the election on November 8 available online, how do you know what's accurate?

There’s just about a week until the November election,  and the polls suggest recreational marijuana will become legal in California.

Electorally, barring a miracle of biblical proportions, California will do what political analysts say it will do: and that is, vote blue.

A swarm of tremors erupted beneath the Salton Sea...200 of them in all.

One minute after police arrived, 38-year old Alfred Olango lay dead in the street.

Wells Fargo is now staring at 2 Congressional investigations over the company's misleading sales tactics.

For the first time in this presidential campaign, the two major parties' nominees took turns – on the same stage – talking about veterans and military issues.

This week, the salacious and often-maligned Gawker.com permanently went dark.

This Monday isn’t just a celebration of the American labor movement.

People are beginning to pick up the pieces in San Bernardino County but fire season is far from over.

For the last two decades in Los Angeles, your football plans have either included the Bruins or Trojans, high school teams or little league. Maybe some sort of fantasy league. What it hasn’t included is the Rams, or any professional football team. And that changes tomorrow. Officials are expecting a packed house at the Coliseum to see a pre-season NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. And the owners of the team are banking on that 20-year omission, nostalgia, and team fervor to score for many years to come.

The Democrats and the Republicans now officially have their nominees, and we’re seeing exactly how they plan to eviscerate each other in the public realm. It’s part humor, part social media, part 140-character diatribe.

You can call California the conservative media’s piñata.   It gets smacked over and over again about its so-called anti-business climate, high taxes and an overall liberal mantra.

Here in L-A, we remember police brutality well, witnessed by the lens of camera, and the awful aftermath.

A group of leaders from the business and political communities, and people who represent Southern California utilities got together this week to talk about earthquake preparedness.

Camping reservations cancelled. Avocado and lemon groves scorched. A water treatment plant burned to the ground.  It’s been anything but an auspicious start to this year’s warmer months in Santa Barbara County.

Can the State House spend its way out of rising housing prices and rent costs, while wages remain relatively stagnant?

In politics, coverage is the name of the game. In journalism, objectivity IS the game.

Last month, California became the first state in the nation to raise its minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour by the year 2022. And that has a lot of folks wondering what effect such a hike will mean for both workers and businesses. It’s also highlighting a contrast of sorts, of two different Californias that are dealing with such an increase.

California's growth and development have been tremendous in the 20th century. But is the 21st century version of California ready or does the Golden State need a re-coding of sorts?

News broke earlier this month  that the Rams gave up the kitchen sink to move into the first draft spot, opinions were split.  But how soon can LA expect results? And can the city be patient with so many other entertainment options in town?

A recall of millions of automobiles in the United States could get much bigger. So far 30 million cars and trucks have already been identified as having faulty, potentially deadly airbags. And federal officials say the maker of those bags, Takata, may have to recall tens of millions more.

Back in 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union released a scathing report about inmate abuse at LA County’s biggest jail.  And a federal investigation into brutality at the jails, eventually led to the conviction of several Sheriff’s deputies.

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign an increase in the California minimum wage on Monday here in LA, just days after the Assembly and House both approved a proposal to raise that wage to $15 by the year 2022. Once he puts his John Hancock on that bill, it’ll the highest statewide minimum wage in the nation. Cities – including Los Angeles, Seattle, and DC – have raised their minimum wages too…

For the Sierra snowpack, El Nino is delivering on its promise. Forecasters and climatologists say snow depth, in most of the mountain range, is near normal levels -- great news for the state’s thirsty reservoirs. But the good fortune hasn’t materialized here in Southern California, where fewer storms have kept the region locked in extreme drought.

"Go Donald!" is what CBS chief Les Moonves famously cheered during an investor call last December. And that's not because of his politics. Just last month, he quipped that, while Trump’s campaign may not be good for America, it’s "damn good for CBS." 2016 is set to be a record-breaking year for political ad spending on TV, as candidates and Super-PACS load up on anti-Trump ads. But what does it all mean for our republic?

Two members of the LA Police Commission are calling on the LAPD to overhaul its use of force policy. Those changes include defining – clearly – when officers can use deadly force, and holding officers accountable when they do. The changes in policy – proposed by Commission President Matt Johnson and Commissioner Robert Saltzman – would reshape the way the Commission examines police shootings if they’re approved.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District Board voted Friday to fire its long-time executive officer, Barry Wallerstein. Wallerstein was at the helm of the agency for nearly 20 years. And his removal happened behind closed doors on the coattails of a 7-6 party-line vote.

With the Oscars coming up this weekend, all eyes will take to the small screen to honor the people of the big screen who have done extraordinary film work in this company town.

Former LA County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty this week to lying to federal investigators about their ongoing probe of corruption at the department. Did the buck stop there? Meanwhile, Southern California Gas Company says it’s temporarily stopped the leaking gas from one of its wells at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas storage facility. A good start, sure. But what about the rest of the wells?

This week comes a push to do something about those state agencies that are responsible for regulating and overseeing companies, whose environmental records have been less than stellar… even, perhaps, criminal.

KCRW’s Warren Olney moderated KCRW’s Which Way, LA? for 23 years before wrapping up the program last night. But the question remains… in what direction is this city headed? And how will we get there?

In the past few weeks, the world of music has lost some gentlemen and geniuses. It’s been a sad time for music fans.

The NFL makes a return to the Los Angeles media market with the Rams trekking back west from St- Louis, to a new behemoth facility in Inglewood.  Owner Stan Kroenke took to the podium today to introduce himself to L-A fans.

For decades, automakers have looked to the auto shows of L.A., Detroit and others to unveil their latest luxury vehicle and concept cars of the future. But more and more, it’s the Consumer Electronic Show – or CES as it’s called – in Las Vegas where they’re making their big splashes.

Weeks have turned into months of a sulfuric stench in Porter Ranch, a pretty idyllic part of the northern San Fernando Valley.

LAUSD closed all of its campuses and facilities this week because of an emailed terror threat which claimed bombs, nerve gas and automatic weapons were stashed at several schools, and an attack – the threat said – was imminent. Public school officials in New York City received a similar threat, but quickly deemed it a hoax.

Occidental College’s President, Jonathan Vietch, announced some steps he’s taking in the wake of protests on campus over lack of diversity and racism at the school.

The LA City Ethics Commission says it cannot confirm or deny whether there will be an investigation of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, after an official endorsement went out yesterday of Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton. That endorsement came from City Hall. And journalists and watchdogs soon pounced, claiming that the Mayor violated city ethics laws by using city infrastructure for the nod.

This week, the LA City Council passed a measure requiring gun owners to store their weapons under lock and key at home. And earlier this year, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an new ordinance that restricts the amount of ammunition in high-capacity magazines. Gun rights activists filed suit last week to overturn it – in an interesting way. We get to the bottom of why cities are tackling this issue – and why other governments are not. KCRW's Steve Chiotakis is joined by Emily Alpert Reyes, City Hall reporter for the LA Times, and Andrew Blankstein of NBC News.

Over the past three weeks, the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen yet another uptick in violence. At least 40 Palestinians and nine Israelis have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. And protests and deadly clashes have, once again, become the daily norm. Here in LA, any flare-up in the conflict reverberates through the large diasporic communities that live here.

Jerry Brown signed a number of contentious bills in to law—from climate change, to equal pay and medical-aid-in-dying.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since a jury acquitted Heisman Trophy-winning-football player-turned-TV and movie star OJ Simpson of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson and a friend at their Brentwood home. The jury’s decision to not convict OJ sent ripples across the country, with some people believing a great injustice had been done, while others saying OJ was set up and deserved to have been set free.

Governor Brown’s push to make California a worldwide leader in fighting climate change suffered two major defeats this week. Joining KCRW's Steve Chiotakis to discuss these developments are Ben Adler, Capitol Bureau Chief at Capital Public Radio, and David Siders, who covers state politics and the Brown administration for The Sacramento Bee.

The Los Angeles Police Department says it’ll send dozens of elite officers into South LA in response to an increase in crime and reported gang violence. The department is highlighting the fact that about half of the 39 killings that happened, in the city as a whole, in the month of August, took place in that area. Will the strategy work? And what’s going on with the crime rate in cities all across the country, and right here in Los Angeles?

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office says Compton’s mayor and council members have been illegally boosting their salaries for years by paying themselves for commission meetings that sometimes last only about a minute. In some cases, officials have been paid whether or not they attended the meetings.

Los Angeles has a lot going for it as the potential host of the 2024 Summer Games. The city hosted the Games back in 1984 and there are stadiums already built for another summer games event. US Olympic officials say there is plenty of local support in the city’s bid to host the Games. But is the fact that taxpayers will be stuck with unexpected costs causing the Olympic flame to dim?

This week marks 70 years since the United States dropped two atomic bombs – within three days of each other – on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered, and World War II ended.

Scattered thunderstorms are again battering the mountain and high desert areas with potential for flooding rain, fierce lightning and even hail. An El Niño, as it's known, could mean beneficial rain to combat a four-year drought in the region. But it could also mean some potentially dangerous and damaging weather as well.

Gun sales in California continue to rise and according to the Attorney General’s office, there were close to a million guns sold last year. And of all the people who applied for a background check in 2014, fewer than 9,000 were denied. Less than one percent.

In recent weeks and months, we’ve seen a flurry of coverage from national outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal citing the great weather and the burgeoning gallery scene as reasons why it’s great to be a creative professional in LA. But rents continue to rise – at upwards of twice the national average, according to some statistics – and housing prices are through the roof.

The Los Angeles City Council this week gave the city more power to dismantle homeless encampments. That’s despite the loud objections of homeless advocates. About a dozen protesters disrupted Tuesday’s City Council meeting, calling the rules “criminal” until security officers escorted them out.

Tom Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1973 with a broad coalition of Jews, Latinos, Asian-Americans and other liberal white voters. A new documentary about Bradley chronicles his life, as the son of Texas sharecroppers and grandson to slaves, to LA Police Lieutenant and, later, City Councilmember and Mayor.

UCLA graduate student Michael LaCour published a study in Science magazine last December, suggesting that people who opposed or were on the fence about same-sex marriage can be convinced to change their minds after having a conversation with a gay or lesbian canvasser. But another doctoral student at UC-Berkeley pointed out irregularities in the research.

Whether or not a movie is made in this company town, Hollywood seems to really like one thing: destroying Los Angeles. The latest iteration of imagination and conflagration on the big screen is San Andreas.

The company that owns the pipeline that ruptured this week off the coast of Santa Barbara now has to go through a series of steps before it can restart that line. 

The Los Angeles City Council is moving forward on a plan to raise the citywide minimum wage to $15 by 2020, up from the current $9 an hour. Labor leaders call it a major step forward for lifting workers out of poverty. But some business leaders – particularly restaurant owners – are pushing back.

Emotions ran high at a town hall meeting inside a Venice elementary school auditorium Thursday night. The issue: the killing of an unarmed homeless man by an LAPD officer near the Venice Boardwalk this week.

From Kim Kardashian to the Pope, the cause to recognize the Armenian genocide has gotten vocal support in recent weeks, leading up to today’s centennial anniversary. Armenians point to solid evidence that genocide, at the hands of the Turkish government, indeed took place, in a brutally systematic way.

Look at the term "law enforcement," and you’ll see two words at the center of a debate about policing in America. Law, and force. But how is that force being used?

Governor Jerry Brown has ordered cities throughout California to cut their water use by 25 percent - or more - as the state struggles with fourth year of an historic drought.

First pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine is Saturday evening, when they’ll play the Angels in a spring training matchup. They’ll start the season on Monday for the official home opener against the Padres. But most fans who want to see the game on TV will again be out of luck because of continuing drama beyond the stadium.

We’re well into the fourth year of a severe drought in California. And this week, Governor Jerry Brown and legislative leaders from both parties announced more than $1 billion in emergency aid. But the governor also faced question after question over whether the State Water Resources Control Board's new conservation actions are enough.

Gas prices have been on a roller coaster ride in Southern California the past few weeks. From rock-bottom lows at the start of the year because of an abundant global supply, to a quick rise of a dollar or more per gallon because of a new summer gasoline blend and a refinery explosion in Torrance.

Voters in Los Angeles County will head to the polls on Tuesday. They’re set to cast ballots for City Council, School Board and Community College District Board members. And then there are also a couple of charter amendments that would change when we hold local elections, with the goal of boosting voter turnout.

This Sunday, a few people – alright, hundreds of millions of people – will gather at their sets to watch stars walk the red carpet, and then award each other with golden trophies. It’s an annual tradition, but one thing you won’t see this year is a lot of diversity.

There’s a crisis at the nation’s West Coast ports. An ongoing dispute between longshoremen and shipping companies has led to a suspension of unloading cargo ships. That means huge boats are sitting just offshore, waiting to unload containers filled with products from Asia. And goods from California – that are supposed to be shipped out – are languishing on the docks.

We’re just into 2015, and here we are, talking about the presidential candidates for 2016. And in speech after speech, Republican and Democratic candidates are weighing in on income inequality and the wealth gap. Or, as Jeb Bush called it this week in a speech, the "opportunity gap."

A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that a solid majority of adults think their police departments are doing an excellent or good job. But among ethnic minorities there's a sharp divide. Most whites, Latinos and Asians give local police high marks, but only 36 percent of black respondents do.

As the budget debate continues over how to deal with the least among us in California, there are calls from the extreme left for Governor Brown, and the Legislature, to devote more to those people and social programs that were hit hard in the state budget by the Great Recession, and that haven’t much recovered.

Governor Jerry Brown today released a record $113 billion state spending plan. Under the proposal, the general fund will increase about 5 percent from the current fiscal year, something the governor says reflects California's economic momentum. The governor, however, did not propose many new programs...

Today, federal prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty in the case of 24-year old Paul Ciancia, accused of opening fire inside Terminal 3 of Los Angeles International Airport back in November 2013. That rampage left a TSA agent dead – 39-year old Gerardo Hernandez – and several others injured.

Saying the U.S. will respond in a proportional way, President Obama today said Sony’s decision to scrap the movie The Interview was "a mistake." The president’s comments follow a story that was seemingly small to presumably hundreds of millions of dollars lost with the scrapping of a major motion picture.

Protests continue across the country and here in California against high-profile police killings of unarmed black men and boys. Meanwhile, the LA County Board of Supervisors has voted to create a civilian oversight board for the LA County Sheriff's Department, in response to alleged inmate abuse at county jails.

Negotiating teams on the side of longshoremen and management at the Ports of LA and Long Beach sat down this week for the first time in several weeks. Truck drivers are also trying to unionize at the ports.

The governing body of the University of California voted this week to go ahead with a plan to raise tuition for five straight years. But the big story here in Los Angeles is that the LAUSD reached an historic agreement with plaintiffs in the recent sex scandal at Miramonte Elementary School.

Millions again are expected to sign up for their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. But Republicans, fresh off their midterm election gains, are ready to congressionally snip Obamacare bit by bit.

This week's midterm elections gave Republicans control of the U.S. Senate, and the party took more governorships than had been expected. But that supposed GOP wave may have diminished into a small ripple when it hit the California state line Tuesday night.

On this Halloween weekend, you’re probably thinking about costume and party duties, and not necessarily your civic duty this coming Tuesday. But Americans aren’t the most engaged people when it comes to voting, especially in off-year elections. And, alas, there are some important races that will be decided by a select few.

After three and a half years heading the LA Unified School District, John Deasy stepped down from his post this week. He’s set to remain with the district on “special assignment” through the end of the year.

President Obama exited Los Angeles just as he came in, making money for Democrats, and migraines for West L.A. drivers. He’s attended 30 fundraisers in Los Angeles County since taking office. Should we be getting a complex about the president’s love?

Is LA traffic getting better, or are Angelenos still languishing in congested ridiculousness, with no end in sight? KCRW's Steve Chiotakis spoke with LA Times transportation reporter Laura J. Nelson, and Zocalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews.

America means many things to many people. Our nation is an amalgam of ideas from myriad perspectives that often get drowned out in a sea of ideology and noise. This week, Zocalo Public Square, along with the Smithsonian, is asking what it means to be American.

KCRW's Steve Chiotakis and Joe Mathews of Zocalo Public Square discuss how the job market is being affected by the number of people who have been convicted of a felony and are trying to find work.

Hundreds of federal agents descended this week on downtown LA’s Fashion District, making arrests as part of what prosecutors say is a sophisticated operation to launder money for Mexican drug cartels. Authorities took 9 people into custody, and seized more than $90 million.

The first Friday of the month is when we get the jobs report from the Labor Department. A lackluster one, nationally. But here in Southern California, some optimism about film and TV production jobs staying local, instead of being exported to other parts of the country.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has scrapped its $1 billion effort to provide all students and teachers with iPad tablets. Superintendent John Deasy says he wants to gather new bids for future phases of the program. On the first full week of school in L.A., what's the message coming from the head of the class?

As the severe drought continues in California, the state’s water authority is now actively imposing fines on people who waste any of the wet stuff.

While things have calmed down considerably in Ferguson, Missouri, in the last day or two, the people of that St. Louis suburb are still speaking out about the death of teenager Michael Brown. A similar incident is drawing protests in Los Angeles, which has had no shortage of officer-involved shootings of its own.

Motorcyclists who split lanes – dangerous driving or better for traffic?

More than 20 million gallons of water went pouring down Sunset Boulevard and onto the UCLA campus this week. The culprit? A 93-year old pipe that meanders a few feet under the road. And the age-old question is, who pays?

As cities go across the country, LA isn’t the most expensive - it’s not San Francisco or New York - but it’s pricey enough. And that has people in town scrambling for cheaper areas of town in which to live.

This week, House Speaker John Boehner said it’ll be difficult to monetarily address the flow of undocumented kids across the U.S./Mexico border, until the 2008 law that allowed their travels to the aforementioned place is changed. All the while, protests have continued in the town of Murrieta, in Riverside County, where busloads of migrant kids without parents were turned away a few weeks ago.

British reporter Matthew Garrahan joins KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for a look back on his eight years in LA.

LA lags behind NYC in the local filming of TV drama pilots, and LA County CEO Bill Fujioka plans to retire in November.

Medical marijuana shops and crumbling sidewalks in Los Angeles...

Smoothing the way for more electric cars, but bumpier roads in LA...

An election happened in California this week... and only a few people showed up.

Nick Welsh from the Santa Barbara Independent and Seema Mehta of the LA Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Steve Chiotakis talks to Los Angeles journalists about the week's leading news stories.

Steve Chiotakis talks to Los Angeles journalists about the week's leading news stories.

Douglas Marino from the Los Angeles Register and Ben Bolch from the LA Times talk to KCRW's Steve Chiotakis on this week's Mixer.

Dakota Smith from the Daily News and Tim Logan from the LA Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus joins KCRW's Steve Chiotakis to discuss the latest developments from the Department of Water and Power on this week's Mixer.

Emily Alpert Reyes from the LA Times and San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group business editor Kevin Smith join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Cindy Chang from the LA Times and Vanessa Romo of LA School Report join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times and Melody Gutierrez of the San Francisco Chronicle join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Ben Welsh from the LA Times's Data Desk and KCRW's Warren Olney join Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Dennis Romero from LA Weekly and Kerry Cavanaugh from the LA Time join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Chris O'Brien of the LA Times and KCRW's own Kim Masters join Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Richard Esposito, the senior executive producer of the NBC News Investigative Unit, speaks with KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Gene Maddaus of LA Weekly and Andrew Blankstein from the NBC News Investigative Unit join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

California Report Central Valley Bureau Chief Sasha Khokha and Joe Flint of the LA Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Joel Rubin from the LA Times joins KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Gene Maddaus from the LA Weekly and Seema Mehta from the Los Angeles Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times and Jeremy White of the Sacramento Bee join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Gene Maddaus of the LA Weekly and Seema Mehta of the LA Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

NBC's Andrew Blankstein, Univision's Oswaldo Borraez, KCRW's Madeleine Brand, and LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus join Steve Chiotakis for a year in review.

Which Way, LA? host Warren Olney, David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times and Gillian Flaccus of the Associated Press join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

KCRW's Steve Chiotakis is joined by LA Times reporter Robert Faturechi, and Hillel Aron, who writes for the LA Weekly for this week's Mixer.

David Zahniser of The Los Angeles Times and Hillel Aron of the LA Weekly join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

Gene Maddaus from LA Weekly and Kate Linthicum from the Los Angeles Times join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Mixer.

LA Times reporters Howard Blume and Dave Zanhiser join KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Friday Mixer.

Gene Maddaus from the LA Weekly and Seema Mehta from the LA Times join Steve Chiotakis for this week's mixer.

Jack Dolan of the LA Times and Hillel Aron of LA Weekly joined KCRW's Steve Chiotakis for this week's Friday Mixer.

Steve Chiotakis discusses the week's news in Southern California with Seema Mehta of the LA Times and Gene Maddaus of the LA Weekly.

Lawmakers in the state and assembly have passed hundreds of bills this week.

KCRW's Steve Chiotakis covers fracking, tour bus workers, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and bringing football back to LA.

Murals, Millennium Hollywood, Prisons and Porn

Contracts for DWP union workers, who’s gonna pay for street repairs, and the LA County Sheriff’s race. KCRW's Steve Chiotakis discusses these and other topics with Raphe Sonenshein, Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA.