Following President Trump's State of the Union Speech, we check in with SoCal Representative Pete Aguilar to find out how bipartisan negotiations are working to avoid another government shutdown. Plus, we check in with KPCC reporter Jill Replogle to find out what she learned from going plastic-free for a month. And, the latest Hollywood news.
Government Shutdown: Representative Pete Aguilar
( Starts at 1:15 )
Ahead of President Trump's State of the Union speech Tuesday night, Southern California Representative Pete Aguilar issued a public call to the president, asking him to commit to bipartisan cooperation. Aguilar is one of 16 lawmakers tasked with coming up with a deal that would keep the government open past February 15th.
Guest:
- Pete Aguilar, Congressman
Motor Voter Investigation
( Starts at 10:59 )
The state's Motor Voter program hit another speed bump, this week. This is the program that started last year where eligible Californians were automatically registered to vote when they went to the DMV. But it's been plagued with problems from the start. On Tuesday, California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced his office will investigate whether those issues affected the outcome of any election in November.
Guest:
- Mary Plummer, KPCC Senior Politics reporter
Cal State sees gains in overall graduation rates but some LA campuses still struggle
( Starts at 17:39 )
In an ideal world, a high school senior class would graduate from college four years later. But for some of the 23 Cal State University campuses or CSUs, that is not happening. In fact, almost half of the CSUs had four-year graduation rates of less than 20%. And three of those low-performing schools are local: Cal State L.A., Dominguez Hills and Northridge.
Guest:
- Jeff Gold, CSU assistant vice chancellor for student success.
Ranking atmospheric rivers like hurricanes
( Starts at 24:37 )
The sun is shining now, but up until Tuesday, it was still pretty grey because of the rain. Storms, like we've had this week, are the result of something a lot of us are just beginning to hear about—"atmospheric rivers." Those are moisture-rich storms that roll in from the Pacific ocean and now they're getting a ranking system.
Guest:
- Marty Ralph, directs the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego
Proceeding with a host-less Oscars
( Starts at 31:11 )
The Oscars are a little more than two weeks away and still, there's no host. But ABC is saying the "mystery" is making people more interested in the show. Plus, as the Disney/Fox deal comes to a close major layoffs are expected.
Guest:
- Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter
https://twitter.com/THR/status/1093236933759721473
Giving Up Plastic
( Starts at 39:46 )
There are lots of people who have done zero-waste and plastic-free experiments and posted them on the Internet. KPCC’s Jill Replogle thinks her family can do it. In an effort to bring awareness to how much plastic a family of four typically goes through, Take Two checks in with Jill and her family to see how their plastic intake has reduced and the challenges they’ve seen in the past few weeks.
Guest:
- Jill Replogle, KPCC reporter
