California Connected Newsroom

Matthew Chin, Associate Producer, points us to a blog about “The Other L.A.”:
Los Angeles Times sports columnist J.A. Adande describes the two L.A.’s (characterized by Lakers fans and Clippers fans), citing novelist Stephen Randall’s “The Other Side of Mulholland.”
I would add that there are many Laker fans from “Lower Los Angeles” who just go once […]

In a nearly unanimous vote, the California State Assembly passed legislation today that would stiffen penalties for illegal street racing. If “The Fast and the Furious” franchise isn’t enough to convince you of street racing’s prevalence, please note California Connected’s 2002 profile of one San Diego group’s solution to street racing — “Illegal Drag […]

Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and Turkey have early alarm systems to warn citizens of an earthquake. Such a system allows people to respond and take cover quickly. So why do we have so few of them here in the US?
According to the Associated Press, California scientists have been interested in developing such alarms since the 1994 […]

Matthew Chin, Associate Producer, points us to an article regarding academic self-censorship:
If you have access to Science magazine, you might want to check out the May 19, 2006 issue where reporter Yudhijit Bhattacharjee wrote a story on the debate of openness in research versus self-censorship when the work is related to homeland security issues.
The story […]

A new high-rise project begins on this empty, sandy lot, but will soon dominate the Koreatown skyline.

Mega-developers Legacy Partners, the same company behind an ambitious project at Hollywood and Vine, have now got big plans for Koreatown. We’ve reported on the 22-story Mercury building on Wilshire and Western, but this new project on the southwest […]

When we send Producer Angela Shelley out to shoot a story, we know two things for sure. She’s going to make us cry and she’s going to bring back a lot of tape.
Angela’s first story of the season, “Family Matters,” airs this Friday. It’s about an intergenerational facility in Escondido that pairs […]

Today, the PPIC released findings from their latest survey that measured California voter opinion for the upcoming 2006 primary. According to the poll, among Republican voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval rating is 75% but among all voters, it’s a little less than half. In this primary election, he is all but running unopposed.
It […]

New fears about the security of electronic voting systems are taking flight. On May 11, 2006, Black Box Voting–a nonprofit, nonpartisan, consumer protection group for elections–released an alarming report on Diebold Election Systems‘ touchscreen voting machines, the TSx and TS6.
Harri Hursti, a security expert working for BBV, said he found a way to hack […]

California Connected’s first show of this season reported on the vulnerability of the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex as a terrorist target. In one interview, security expert Amy Zegart says, “Of all the issues I’ve studied in my career, port security is one of the few that really scares me.”
Now, […]

Part 4 in a special report on Koreatown development
Demographer Peter A. Morrison, whose research on Koreatown housing patterns uses 2000 Census figures, found a growing discrepancy between rental prices and what different ethnic groups were able or willing to pay. He said Asians in Koreatown are trending upward in the local housing market as more […]