Who would try and profit off a natural disaster? Insurance scammers, that’s who. We update listeners on what to watch out for. The Station Fire may be under control but will it stay that way? It all depends on which way the literal wind blows. We discuss the weather and how it could help or hurt the fire-fighters progress.
California’s budget slashing stripped health insurance from 700,000 of the state’s poorest children covered by Healthy Families. Now House speaker Karen Bass is trying to save the program with a bill that would replace a 5.5% levy on insurance companies set to expire in October, with a 2.35% tax insurance companies have already agreed to, and which would be matched by federal funds. We check in as a vote goes to the lower house today.
Speculation about the future of Justice David Souter began early this year when he did not fully staff his law clerks—and the same guessing game is now underway about Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens, the oldest judge currently serving on the Supreme Court and the second oldest justice in the court's history, has hired fewer law clerks than usual, fueling the theory that this court term will be his last. Will SCOTUS lose another band mate?
Atwater bistro Canelé periodically holds a “Friends Cook” night, where non-professional cooks design a complete meal that goes on the menu for the evening—and work in the restaurant’s kitchen to get it prepared. One recent cook wrote about her experience for the Los Angeles Times magazine; she and Canelé’s chef join Patt to talk about this local chef-for-a-night opportunity.
In a national debate that’s been chalk full of misconceptions, questionable claims and outright lies, one commonly held belief had been upheld by almost everyone: preventive health care practices, from encouraging healthy behavior to disease prescreening, helps to save both lives and money. It turns out that there’s reason to question even that conventional wisdom: a new study shows a much more complicated picture of preventive medical services, from the savings they offer to the health benefits they provide. Does preventive medicine do more harm than good?
YouTube is a behemoth in the internet video world and with talks of adding a feature that would allow users to rent movies online, it may be getting even bigger. Will major movie studios that have fought a long and hard battle to keep their content off of the free video site now make a deal to allow the site to host their movies as rentals? With both the Hollywood studios and YouTube likely to make a profit off the deal, the answer is probably yes.
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
