Risk of mudflow, river of trash caused by the rain, making hiking more accessible

Plastic debris clog the mouth of the Los Angeles River in Long Beach in 2002.
Plastic Pollution Coalition/Flickr

Take Two® | February 4, 2019

Listen to story

49:41

Mud Flow Risk

( Starts at 1:20 )

Dangerous rains are still washing out Southern California. There was a flood warning earlier Monday for the Woolsey and Hill Fire burn areas in Ventura County. Plus, there are flood advisories for many SoCal cities. And a part of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu remains closed to non-residents. While the skies are expected to clear up tomorrow afternoon the dangers of flooding and debris flows can linger.

Guest:

Jason Kean, research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Members of the Orange County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue team look for survivors amid the mud, debris and destruction caused by a massive mudflow in Montecito, California, January 10, 2018.
Search and rescue efforts intensified January 10 for hundreds of Montecito residents feared trapped in their homes after deadly walls of mud and debris roared down California hillsides stripped of vegetation by recent, ferocious wildfires. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) — Members of the Orange County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue team look for survivors amid the mud, debris and destruction caused by a massive mudflow in Montecito, California, January 10, 2018. Search and rescue efforts intensified January 10 for hundreds of Montecito residents feared trapped in their homes after deadly walls of mud and debris roared down California hillsides stripped of vegetation by recent, ferocious wildfires. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Trash and Rain

( Starts at 8:47 )

Over the last 72 hours, some parts of Southern California have received more than four inches of rain and that's washed a lot of trash onto our beaches and into waterways. The Los Angeles flood channel is filled with so much trash, it could fill the Rose Bowl field two stories deep. That's according to the L.A. County Public Works office.

Guest:

Mark Gold, Associate Vice Chancellor of Environment and Sustainability for UCLA

The trash brought down Southern California's rivers includes chip bags, drink packets and even wrappers of all kinds. This picture was taken after a recent storm along Sunset Beach at the mouth of the San Gabriel River.
Susan Valot/KPCC

Measure HHH Audit

( Starts at 18:12 )

Back In 2016, Los Angeles voters passed Proposition HHH. It raises more than a billion dollars for construction of homeless housing and service centers. But the City controller is calling foul. He says L.A. is sitting on hundreds of millions of those dollars that should be used now, not later like the city leaders plan.

Guest:

Matt Tinoco, KPCC’s housing reporter

Homeless Students

( Starts at 24:29 )

One issue we've been talking about lately is the high number of young students in Los Angeles who are without a consistent place to live. According to data from last November, almost 18,000 students in the L.A. Unified School District have been identified as homeless. But L.A. is not alone. KQED education reporter Vanessa Racaño visited a school district in Monterey County where forty percent of the students are homeless.

Michelle King Tribute

( Starts at 31:58 )

Take Two takes a moment to recognize Michelle King, former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. She died Saturday at age 57 after a battle with cancer. When she was appointed to superintendent in 2016, KPCC's Priska Neely talks to teachers and staff that worked with King at Hamilton High School in mid-city L.A., where King spent years as principal.

Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent Michelle King addresses reporters after her State of the District speech in the auditorium at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.
Kyle Stokes/KPCC

No Place Like LA: LA Anniversary

( Starts at 40:08 )

Los Angeles is full of transplants like Jon Regardie. He moved here from Washington DC in the 1990s. Time flew and before he knew it he was celebrating his twenty-fifth 'LA-versary' week. This city is where he belongs, he realized and his story is part of the series we call "No Place Like LA." You can read Regardie's ode to L.A. here.

The Downtown Los Angeles skyline on the morning of Al Gore's visit in which he congratulated Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the city for committing itself to cleaner energy alternatives, March 22. (This is an HDR image.)
Christopher Okula/KPCC

818 Hikes

( Starts at 44:12 )

Despite all the places to hike in L.A., there's a huge part of the population that has trouble accessing those trails. Araceli Hernandez is the manager of 818Hikes, a group of San Fernando Valley residents trying to make hiking more accessible to underserved communities. She speaks to A Martinez about the obstacles people in her neck of the woods have when it comes to hiking in L..A.