Recapping Wednesday Night’s Mayoral, Sheriff Debates

Candidates for Los Angeles mayor and sheriff of Los Angeles County took the stage at the Skirball Cultural Center Last night in what turned out to be a duo of lively, and at times contentious debates.

Today on AirTalk, KPCC/LAist civics and democracy reporter Frank Stoltze, who helped moderate the debate, joins us to share some of the highlights and how the candidates for each office responded to questions about the major issues facing the city and county of Los Angeles. We also get analysis from Pomona College assistant professor of political science, Sara Sadhwani, who was in the audience for the event.

The Importance Of Fog And Why It Could Be Under Threat

Fog is a key environmental element drenching the California coast. While fully understanding fog’s mysteries is difficult, experts say it plays a critical role in the ecology of California regions. Climate change could pose a huge threat to it though. New York Times reporter John Branch recently wrote about fog in the Bay Area and whether there’s less of it before. According to his report, both scientists and everyday residents agree the answer is yes. So what could the future of fog be? Joining to discuss is Lixin Wang, professor of earth sciences at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), where he researches fog and its impacts.

Brew-In Brew-Out: We Talk To Latino In Los Angeles Beer Brewing Scene To Talk About Their Work & Representation In The Industry

There’s a massive industry for beer in the United States, with it being the second-leading producer of the product worldwide in 2021. And on more of a micro-level, Los Angeles itself serves as a microcosm of that diversity of the industry being home to breweries of all different brews and sizes. Despite the county being nearly 50% Latinos, the number of folks brewing. Some folks though have looked to change that, SoCal Cerverceros serves as an example of the largest Latino homebrew club in the nation that helps connect a lot of small-time brewers together to create a supportive community that’s meant to resemble the world a lot of these Chicano brewers see locally.

Today on AirTalk, we shine a lot on some local brewers and here how exactly they came up and were able to make beer that appeals to other Latinos and Angelenos in general. Joining us are co-founder and president of Brewjeria Company, Agustin Ruelas, and Ray Ricky Rivera, founder of Norwalk Brew House.

Protests Remain Steady In Iran As President Raisi Makes Debut On World Stage

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi insisted Wednesday that his country is serious about reviving a deal meant to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear bomb but questioned whether Tehran could trust America’s commitment to any eventual accord. The U.S. had already “trampled” on a previous deal, President Ebrahim Raisi told the U.N. General Assembly, referring to America’s decision to pull out of the accord in 2018.

Raisi, who was previously chief of Iran’s judiciary, also denounced Western “double standards” on human rights. Raisi was sworn in as president only a year ago and has been described as a protege of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He spoke for the first time from the podium at the U.N. in his role as president. Raisi’s speech comes at a sensitive time in Iran. Western sanctions, which Raisi described as a “punishment on the people of Iran,” have eaten away at Iran’s reserves, exacerbated inflation, and devalued Iran’s currency against the U.S. dollar.

Economic protests have flared — and frequently are met with lethal force. Furthermore, in recent days, protesters have clashed with police in cities across the country, including the capital, over the death of a 22-year-old woman who was held by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strictly-enforced dress code. Wednesday, Iranians experienced a near-total internet blackout.

Raisi has offered condolences to the woman’s family and promised an investigation. Her death has ignited long-simmering anger among many Iranians, particularly young people. Here to talk about the most recent bout of unrest and the possibility of a renewed nuclear deal is Farnaz Fassihi,  New York Times reporter covering Iran & Nicole Grajewski, a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow with the Belfer Center for International Affairs at Harvard.

With files from the Associated Press

New ‘Book Of Names’ Monument Documents Everyone Of Japanese Ancestry Incarcerated In US Camps During World War II

The number has always been an estimate -- some have said 110,000, others 120,000. But a new monument that will be unveiled on Saturday at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles finally gives an exact number and a definitive list of names of every person of Japanese ancestry who was incarcerated in a U.S. camp during World War II. As with other name monuments that already exist in America -- the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. or the 9/11 Memorial in New York City -- the idea is that naming each individual who was in a U.S. camp, including those who were born in camps as well as those who were arrested and brought to camps in the weeks following Pearl Harbor after Executive Order 9066 paved the way for the camps to be set up, it prevents the terrible event . The monument will exist in three forms -- a book of names at the museum itself, an online archive of the different camps and expansive rosters of people who were incarcerated

Today on AirTalk, KPCC’s Josie Huang is with us to talk about how she discovered this project, and we’ll also talk with USC Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages Duncan Williams, who led the team that compiled the book of names, about how they conceived the project, the work that went into researching and compiling the book of names and why it was important to him to document, name and humanize those who were incarcerated.

Should All New Cars Have Breathalyzer Devices? We Discuss How It Might Work And The Implications

The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new vehicles in the U.S. be equipped with blood alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an intoxicated person from driving.

The recommendation, if enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, one of the biggest causes of highway deaths in the U.S. The new push to make roads safer was included in a report released Tuesday about a horrific crash last year in which a drunk driver collided head-on with another vehicle near Fresno, California, killing both adult drivers and seven children. NHTSA said this week that roadway deaths in the U.S. are at crisis levels. Nearly 43,000 people were killed last year, the greatest number in 16 years, as Americans returned to roads after pandemic stay-at-home orders. Under last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law, Congress required NHTSA to make automakers install alcohol monitoring systems within three years. The agency can seek an extension. In the past it has been slow to enact such requirements. The legislation doesn’t specify the technology, only that it must “passively monitor” a driver to determine if they are impaired.

Joining Larry to discuss is Tom Chapman, board member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

With files from the Associated Press