Federal EPA Fires Top Official in California
Mike Stoker, the controversial head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in California and other Western states, was fired this week. Stoker says his firing may have stemmed from praise he received from Democrats for his work on contaminated sites in their communities. However, Stoker received criticism for his extensive travel and for managing hundreds of San Francisco-based staff remotely from Southern California.
Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED
Company Behind Controversial Pesticide Says it Will Halt Production
Corteva Agriscience, the main manufacturer of a pesticide called chlorpyrifos, said yesterday it will stop making the product. That announcement comes as California moves to ban the pesticide’s sale, citing studies that link the popular agricultural pesticide to brain damage in kids and harm to wildlife.
Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED
Native American Actress Reflects on Film Industry's Changes
Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather stepped in for Marlon Brando at the Academy Awards in 1973 to protest the mistreatment of her people. Littlefeather says there still aren’t many lead roles for Native Americans today, but things are slowly changing.
Reporter: Chloe Veltman
Lottery Faces Questions After Big 'Ellen Show' Giveaway
The California State Lottery is facing criticism for donating more than 200-thousand dollars worth of Scratchers tickets to an audience giveaway on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The LA Times got a hold of a whistleblower complaint that's drawn attention to the exchange, which says the gifted tickets may qualify as misused funds.
CSU Has a Massive Maintenance Backlog
There are 23 campuses in the California State University system. And a lot of those schools face a massive backlog of repair work that needs to get done. The work will take an estimated four billion dollars and years to complete. One maintenance worker tells us what the situation looks like from his perspective.
Reporter: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, KPCC