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Doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is packaged in a box at the McKesson facility on March 1, 2021 in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.; Credit: Pool/Getty Images In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Libby Denkmann speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg from UC Davis. Topics today include: Merck will help Johnson & Johnson make its COVID-19 vaccine, Biden to announce CDC chief warns of 'potential fourth surge' and urges US to keep COVID-19...

California Governor Gavin Newsom wears a face mask as he prepares to give a briefing after touring a Covid-19 vaccination site on February 22, 2021 in Long Beach, California.; Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a $7.6 billion COVID-19 relief package, which includes $600 direct payments to nearly six million low income Californians. Those payments will also be available to workers without legal status. If you're eligible for the money,...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (R) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (C) tour the mass Covid-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium on January 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: IRFAN KHAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images AirTalk sits down with Mayor Eric Garcetti to get the latest on the city’s vaccination plan, as sites expand eligibility this week. Plus, we’ll talk with 9th district councilmember Curren Price about potential funding for a universal basic income pilot program...

A man walks up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC.; Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Eight years after carving the heart out of a landmark voting rights law, the Supreme Court is looking at putting new limits on efforts to combat racial discrimination in voting. The justices are taking up a case about Arizona restrictions on ballot collection and another policy that penalizes voters who cast ballots in the wrong precinct. The high court’s...

Book cover for “Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race” by Shanna H. Swan and Stacey Colino. In 2017, environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Shanna Swann conducted a meta-study that found that sperm counts in Western men have gone down over fifty percent over the last forty years. And that’s the tip of the reproductive iceberg, when it comes to how lifestyle and...

Friends of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold posters bearing his picture as they attend an event marking the second-year anniversary of his assassination in front of Saudi Arabia Istanbul Consulate, on October 2, 2020. ; Credit: OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images Saudi Arabia’s crown prince likely approved the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday that...

A child attends an online class at a learning hub inside the Crenshaw Family YMCA during the Covid-19 pandemic on February 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images California Governor Gavin Newsom struck a deal yesterday with state lawmakers to push districts to reopen for some elementary-aged children by the end of March. The bill does not require schools to reopen, but financially incentivize them to do so. The proposal offers $2 billion in...

Tyrone Valiant, 73, receives a Band-Aid after being administered a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by a healthcare worker outside the Los Angeles Mission located in the Skid Row community on February 10, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. ; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images Many essential workers, teachers and emergency service workers are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Los Angeles County— though supplies remain constrained, and ethical issues abound. Last week, the Los...

Registered nurse Rhonda Ahn administers the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to eligible people identified by homeless service agencies from the parking lot of the L.A. Mission on February 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Libby Denkmann speaks with UCLA’s Dr. Robert Kim-Farley. Topics today include: Newsom and California lawmakers came to an agreement on...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (L), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (R) join Senate and House leaders for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2021.; Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images The Senate parliamentarian dealt a potentially lethal blow Thursday to Democrats’ drive to hike the minimum wage, deciding that the cherished progressive goal must fall from a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill the party is trying to speed through Congress,...

Lorraine Harvey, an in home care worker, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Rudolfo Garcia at a clinic at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles on February 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Shruti Gohil at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine. Topics today include: FDA panel meets...

The Los Angeles Dodgers pose for a photo after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in Game Six to win the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 27, 2020 in Arlington, Texas.; Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images Baseball fans across the Southland are rejoicing this weekend as Spring Training baseball gets underway in Florida and Arizona. This year, both Los Angeles teams have plenty to prove, but for markedly different reasons. For the Angels, it’s about proving they’ve made...

Registered Nurse Angelo Bautista administers the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to eligible people identified by homeless service agencies from the parking lot of the L.A. Mission on February 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg. Topics today include: CA winter surge death toll tops 50,000, including 806 in L.A. New...

A screen capture of Chava Sanchez's "A Brief History of South Central Jazz."; Credit: Photo Illustration by Chava Sanchez/LAist Jazz was in its heyday in the 1930s and '40s when nightclubs like Club Alabam abounded on Central Avenue. The nearby Dunbar Hotel was a legend in its own right. When Black jazz greats of the era, like Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, came to town, racially restrictive covenants and segregation limited where they could stay. The Dunbar...

Peace Corps volunteers during a swearing-in ceremony at National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, 04 April 2007.; Credit: TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images It was 1960 when then-senator John F. Kennedy was on the campaign trail speaking to students from the University of Michigan, challenging them to travel abroad and assist other countries overseas. This establishing moment was what sparked Kennedy to eventually create the Peace Corps in 1961 when he became president. 60 years...

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event to sign an Executive Order on the economy with Vice President Kamala Harris February 24, 2021 in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images Conspiracy theories and hoaxes have been around for a long time, even well before the advent of the internet, but in recent years it seems more and more Americans are willing to openly embrace them, particularly as high-ranking government officials,...

A city office employee works into the night as darkness closes in on October 10, 2005 in Glasgow, Scotland. ; Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images As an economic downturn hurts folks across the United States, one of the most important things for workers is stability. According to a study done by the Society for Human Resource Management, most employees are prioritizing their compensation, job security and opportunity to use their skills. This also comes at a time where 40% of...

View of a temporary detention center for illegal underage immigrants in Tornillo, Texas, US near the Mexico-US border, as seen from Valle de Juarez, in Chihuahua state, Mexico on June 18, 2018.; Credit: HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images President Joe Biden’s administration has reopened a tent facility to house up to 700 immigrant teenagers after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border unaccompanied by a parent, a sign of growing worries about how children are treated in government...

Former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifies in a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Rules and Administration committees joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, February 23, 2021.; Credit: ERIN SCOTT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Security officials testifying at Congress’ first hearing on the deadly siege of the Capitol cast blame and pointed fingers on Tuesday but also acknowledged they were woefully unprepared for the violence. Senators drilled down...

Book cover for "Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It" by Ethan Kross.; Credit: Crown Publishing While it might seem strange on the surface, talking to yourself isn’t that unusual. In fact, most of us have a voice in our head, which can act as both a confidence booster and a mood-killer, depending on the situation. But how do we harness that little voice and make it work to our advantage instead of against us? Author and professor Ethan Kross explores the...