Madeleine Scinto

Trucks Still Truckin' Pollution Beyond the Port

2010-02-24T05:32:53Z

With the New Year the Port of L.A. phased out a fresh batch of non-compliant trucks, apparently in vain, as the trucks continue avoiding Clean Truck Program rules and polluting L.A. skies. Now pre-1994 truck models join pre-1989 truck models in being banned from the port, but trucking companies defy the Clean Truck Program by using their new trucks to load cargo at the port and their old trucks to haul the cargo to its final destination.

"It's funny that you mention that," said Angelo Logan, Executive Director of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ), from his City of Commerce office.

"It happened in front of our office. One truck pulled up and then another truck pulled up right there in the median. Then the truckers got out, unhooked their cargo, and then hooked up each other's cargo to their own trucks. The cargo exchange happened fast."

"The practice clearly circumvents the intent of the Clean Truck Program," he added.
]]> The Port of L.A. created the program to phase out trucks that fail to comply with 2007 EPA standards and "reduce negative health impacts that port drayage inflicts on the local community," according to the Clean Truck Program Overview.

The initiative started up in 2008 after six years of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowing to take on the trucking industry and promising to impose strict air quality rules to reduce the deadly emissions spewing from the port. His goal: cut diesel pollution 80 percent by 2012.

And it seemed close to reality when, a year after the program's launching, he announced a milestone: truck emissions had dropped 70 percent at the Port of Los Angeles, three years ahead of schedule.

Since that time he has continued to herald the 70 percent reduction in port pollution, including at the Copenhagen climate-control talks two months ago, when he called the Port of L.A.'s reduction in port pollution as the "most far-reaching in the world."

A Neon Tommy team of investigative reporters published a story in December scrutinizing the progress touted by the mayor, the Port of L.A. and environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council. After interviewing truckers, port officials and cargo companies, the team found some truck companies use newer, cleaner trucks to pick up cargo, then transfer it to old and dirty trucks waiting just outside the port for the long haul through the region's freeway system to warehouses in the Inland Empire and points north of Los Angeles.

As dirty trucks continue rolling through local communities, they release diesel emissions that air quality agencies say substantially increase cancer risk for communities near the port and freeways. Studies from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Air Quality Management District (AQMD) show more than two million people face greater health risks than those who live elsewhere in the region. CARB estimates Southern Californians pay between $100 million and $590 million in health impact costs related to truck pollution.

The more truck companies send their clean trucks to do circles around the port, and the more dirty trucks continue to haul cargo through the 710-corridor and other freeways and the less effective the Clean Truck Program is at improving community health and air quality.
In the meantime Port of L.A. officials deny many trucking companies engage in this truck swapping practice.

"There's not a lot of economic gain in [truck swapping]," said Capt. John Holmes, director of operations at the Port of L.A. He said using two drivers to haul cargo to its final destination is too expensive.

Curtis Whalen, a director of the American Trucking Association, disagrees.

Because of truck swapping older trucks can still carry cargo from the port, even without access to the port. The practice is much cheaper than buying a $100,000 clean truck. And retrofitted trucks built between the 1994 and 2007 models can still pick up cargo at the port without incurring hundreds of dollars in extra fees imposed by the Clean Truck Program.

Whalen added that certain new trucks do not have as good gas mileage as older trucks, making it cheaper to continue using the older trucks on long hauls.

And because it is economical, truckers, environmentalists, and trucking industry officials contend truck swapping happens more than Port of L.A. officials lead one to believe.

"It's that type of thing that if you see right in front of your office, it must be happening a lot," said Logan, EYCEJ executive director, and observer of a truck swapping in the median across the street from his City of Commerce office

Neon Tommy observed truck swaps at two locations outside port gates: the Clean Truck Center, a place where truckers receive information about the Clean Truck Program and other port regulations, and off the Pier A terminal, a turn-off surrounded by "No Cargo Drop" signs. The team suspects it also happens regularly at private trucking yards.

"I don't know what [port officials] are looking at," said Buena Park truck driver Pani Hunt, while he stood outside the Port of L.A. gates. "If they come out and sit down here they'll see it. It's happening right outside the gates. They gotta be kidding."

Logan, of EYCEJ, believes the truck swapping takes place on a large scale at transloading stations, warehouses where truckers go to consolidate cargo and prepare loads for train shipments. These transloading spots, located along major freeways, are convenient and make the exchange easy.

The Neon Tommy team put in a California Public Records Request to nail down exactly how widespread the truck swapping practice may be. It asked for a comprehensive list of all trucks that entered and exited the Port between July 1, 2009 and October 31, 2009 to decipher which trucks make several port entries a day, and could be participating in the truck swap.

The Neon Tommy team is still sifting through the 22,494 PDF document provided by the Port of L.A. and is requesting a list of trucks that have made more than five port entries in a day.

The California Air Resources Board believes the practice widespread enough that it is "currently discussing internally [the] best options for addressing it," and "acknowledges the drayoff problem exists at the ports," wrote CARB spokeswoman Karen Ceasar in an e-mail to Neon Tommy.

Port of L.A. officials, however, say they're not responsible for problems outside their gates and have no plans to address the issue.

"We're not a regulatory body. What we're really trying to do is influence what's happening here at our port terminals and on our property," said Chris Cannon, Clean Truck Program Director. "And we know that switching containers, in terms of within their own companies, there's nothing we can do about that."

Despite the truck swapping problem, the Port of L.A. and the mayor's office still continue to claim the program has reduced truck diesel emissions by 70 percent. As outlined in the December Neon Tommy article, port officials base the 70 percent statistic off a complicated rate formula instead of actual air monitoring station data.

Two months ago the port did release a general air monitoring report with analysis up to April 2008. The report includes seven months of data that overlap with the first year of the Clean Truck Program.

When comparing the May 2006 - April 2007 time period to May 2007 - April 2008 time period, one can see a drop in elemental carbon, an indicator of diesel emissions, ranging from 35 to 23 percent. Clearly not the 70 percent the mayor touts, but still a significant cut.

The Port of L.A. actually attributes the reduction to the economic slowdown--2009 cargo volumes were down 16 percent--and to their Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP). CAAP began in 2006 and includes the Clean Truck Program and other port initiatives focused on cutting diesel polluters besides trucks, such as cargo handling equipment.

"But ultimately the major source of diesel emissions is diesel trucks," said Philip Fine, atmospheric measurement manager of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD).

When asked about the decrease in elemental carbon found in the report, Fine said the SCAQMD believes the economic slowdown, which caused a drop off in goods movement, led to the overall reduction.

Andrea Hricko, of the Southern California Environmental Health Science Center, wrote in an e-mail to Neon Tommy, "It's difficult to sort out the reason behind the decreases in air pollution levels during the [2007-2008 time period]; that is, what part is CAAP and what part is decrease in imports."

Her center discovered overall air quality actually worsened during the first year of CAAP during 2006 and 2007, when imports were up, compared to 2005, the year before CAAP began.

Hricko said, although air quality improved during the 2007-2008 time period, imports have dropped during that time and analysts need to wait for imports to increase again in order to make a more accurate assessment.

Environmental groups continue to be concerned about diesel emissions despite the recent data. And they see truck swapping as counterproductive to cleaning up L.A.'s skies.

"One way to prevent this practice is for the port to have the authority to investigate claims of trucking swapping and to punish [companies] who engage in this kind of deceitful practice." said Jessica Lass, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Logan, of EYCEJ, agrees and says the port should put in some type of mechanism to monitor where clean trucks go for their first destination. Their first stop should be farther away than the Port of L.A. truck yards and local transloading stations, at the very least, he said.

Ultimately CARB says older trucks engaging in truck swapping practices will be subject to a statewide truck rule, which is stricter on allowable emissions than the Clean Truck Program.

The Port of L.A. expects 7,500 clean trucks to be operating in the port by this Spring," said Phillip Sanfield, Port of L.A. spokesman, "making more clean trucks available for short hauls and thereby even further reducing the need to switch trucks."

It remains unclear how more clean trucks circling the port will reduce truck swapping. In fact, it could make it worse.

John Guenther contributed to the reporting of this story.

Pollution at the Gates

2009-12-12T01:52:19Z

By John Guenther and Madeleine Scinto

For six straight years, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed he would take on the trucking industry and impose strict air quality rules that would reduce truck emissions at the Port of Los Angeles by 80 percent by 2012.

The Port of L.A. launched the Clean Truck initiative in 2008 in an effort to scrub clean the air at the country's largest port. By barring older trucks from the port, by requiring other trucks retrofit in stages, and by providing incentives for purchasing newer and cleaner trucks, the plan aimed to hit the port's emissions goal in five years.

What seemed impossible took on a sense of reality in October when the mayor and port officials called a news conference to announce they reached a milestone: truck emissions had dropped 70 percent at the Port of Los Angeles by mid-2009, putting the port three years ahead of its aggressive schedule.

"This is the most successful effort to clean a port in the world," Villaraigosa said. "I mean, think about it. Nobody thought it was possible to retrofit 5,000 trucks in a year, and we're at 5,500 and growing."

No one at the news conference cast much of a skeptical eye. Headlines in the L.A. Times read the next day, "Diesel emissions down drastically at ports of L.A., Long Beach."

A Neon Tommy team of investigative reporters set out to document the progress being touted by all types of organizations, from the Port of L.A. to the National Resources Defense Council.

In interviews with truckers, port officials, and cargo companies, the team discovered truck companies use new and cleaner trucks to pick up cargo at the port, while the old and dirty trucks wait just outside the port to haul the cargo through Los Angeles.

]]> The Truck Swap

"What's the point?" asked Frank Montano repeatedly, a manager of the South Pacific Container truck company.

"What's the difference if you're just going to have a clean truck drive 20 or 40 feet away from the port, and then have a dirty truck pick up the cargo and drive it all over the state?"

As of July the newer, cleaner trucks made up 37 percent of the Port of L.A. truck fleet but completed 60 percent of the cargo pickups, according to Port records.

The statistic indicates while more shiny new trucks move cargo around the port, the older, more polluting trucks still haul the cargo through the L.A. basin.

"Moving a container from a new truck onto an older truck, I've heard that story," said Curtis Whalen, a director of the American Trucking Association (ATA).

The Port, under the Clean Trucks Program, charges owners of older trucks, which fail to meet 2007 EPA standards and emit significantly more diesel emissions, extra fees each time they load cargo at the port.

Trucking companies can skirt paying the fees by using their newest trucks to load the cargo portside. Once outside the port terminal, the cargo can be transferred to older big rigs.

Whalen added, "It's economical simply because switching the cargo from a new truck that doesn't have to pay the port fee onto an older truck allows companies to still use their...older trucks every day for a cheaper cost."

As a result, the new trucks seem to be doing circles around the port. Port of L.A. Director of Operations Chris Cannon said the new trucks average about five cargo pickups a day. Both Cannon and Whalen confirm five cargo loads is considerably more than trucks used to do before the Clean Truck Program began.

"Two years ago, three would be a good day," said Whalen. "The new trucks can't be going very far. They certainly aren't going the 50 miles trucks used to go if they're averaging five gate moves [or cargo loads] a day."

Dr. Mark Bernstein, Directing Manager of USC's Energy Institute, commented that additional measures will need to be considered if this is the case.

"I guess they can do that legally, but it is not within the intent of the regulation," said Bernstein.

Neon Tommy made inquiries with the Port and trucking companies to find out more about where the clean and dirty trucks go. The investigation included filing public records requests with the Port to see which trucks exit the gates.

As of the date of this publication, the Port has not provided a list of trucks entering and exiting the port.

Ozzie Zea, Assistant Vice President of Intermodal Bridge Transport (IBT) in Wilmington, says his company's clean trucks only go as far as Carson because otherwise "it's not cost effective." Carson sits ten miles north of the port.

An IBT trucker who works for Zea-- the trucker declined to be named--said his company practices the clean-to-dirty truck swap at their yard.

The older trucks also get better gas mileage than the newer trucks, says ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce. This makes it even cheaper to use the older trucks for the longer hauls through Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

If older trucks do the majority of the long hauls, it means they continue to add to the already polluted I-710 corridor.

Cancer Alley

The corridor, also known as "cancer alley," is one of the most highly polluted areas in the south coast air basin outside of the immediate port area. The goods movement industry has heavily impacted the health of communities like Wilmington, Carson, Compton, Huntington Park and Commerce, all the way to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Studies by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the South Coast Air Quality Management (SCAQM) have found these particular communities suffer from increased cancer risk compared to the rest of Los Angeles.

Both California air quality agencies confirm diesel emissions make up the majority of cancer-causing air pollution.

CARB discovered diesel emissions from the ports elevate cancer risk levels over the entire 20-mile by 20-mile study area surrounding the port. And SCAQM found diesel exhaust accounts for about 84 percent of region-wide cancer risk.

A study published in November in the American Journal of Public Health showed that nine percent of all childhood asthma cases in Long Beach can be blamed on proximity to freeways and roads serving the port.

A 70% reduction in truck emissions at the port sounds like good news for the communities of cancer alley. But, where did the number come from?

The 70 Percent Solution

"Are you serious?" asked Ozzie Zea of IBT trucking sarcastically. Then he just started laughing loudly. Neon Tommy had asked whether he found the port air to be cleaner.

Neon Tommy filed a second public records request to receive the air monitoring station data or air quality analyses that available to support the 70 percent reduction number.

The Port could not supply air quality data covering the first year of the program.

"What you have asked for, including air monitoring station data, will be part of a full detailed analysis that will happen after the end of 2009, when we will do a full emissions inventory," said the Port of L.A. spokesman, Philip Sanfield.

It turns out that the Port of L.A. used a formula to project a 70 percent reduction in truck emissions.

The Port's formula begins with the average rate of emissions for trucks in each model year from the oldest going all the way up to a brand new truck. Then the numbers of port trucks of each model year are counted up and averaged all together to calculate the average rate of emissions for the entire truck fleet.

Officials then created a hypothetical 2007 fleet and a hypothetical 2009 fleet.

"Then we compared the rate of emissions for the hypothetical average 2007 fleet trucks to the rate of emissions for the hypothetical average 2009 fleet truck," said Cannon.

The difference between the two groups came to about 70 percent.

The calculation, however, does not consider each truck's mileage or the amount of goods they move in a year.

That would get "tricky," said Cannon. "So we chose to use the simpler emissions rate comparison."

This means the port's formula fails to project the entire volume of emissions trucks churn out into the L.A. basin.

The calculation's other shortcoming is it only counts trucks that pick up cargo in its statistics. By not including dirty trucks stopping just outside the port, or entering the port without picking up cargo, the formula produces more favorable results.

Nonetheless, National Resources Defense Council spokesperson Jessica Lass said the formula the port used is an accepted way to estimate emissions.

Lass added she eventually wants to see the hard data to support the estimate of "70 percent." "The formula is a projection and you always want to see projections actually verified by the data," said Lass.

Recession: Real Reason Behind Less Air Pollution?

"The company I work for is going out of business," said driver Bilma Pineada at the wheel of a 1999 truck."The economy is bad. And right now it's not even worth it to buy a new truck because [the company] can't afford the payments."

"Before the recession we worked and ate," said truck driver Victor Gonzales outside a truck stop. "The recession is obligating us to practically undo ourselves and with all the sacrifices we're making. It's just really hard."

Overall particulate matter, which includes other pollutants besides trucks, has decreased in recent years, according to studies by South Coast Air Quality Management.

Sam Atwood, SCAQM spokesman, explained the decrease by saying, "The later parts of 2008 and early 2009 we have seen a significant drop. Part of that is attributable to the economy."

Atwood never mentioned the Clean Trucks Program.

The recent economic downturn means less cargo is coming into the port, which means fewer trucks are needed to haul cargo.

The Port of L.A. right now is facing "the worst depression in the last 50 years," says Cannon, director of operations at the Port of L.A.

There used to be 1500 to 2500 licensed motor carriers (LMC) operating within the port in the years before the program began. By December 1 of this year, the number was down to 836 LMC's, saidSanfield.

Cannon explained that part of the reason for the decrease is that many companies cannot afford the newer trucks. But, he also said the economic decline has played a part.

When Neon Tommy asked Whalen to explain the decrease in pollution, he attributed it to the economy. But, he added, "I'll let the Port of LA say it's their Clean Truck Program."

Clean Truck Program: A Step in the Right Direction

While the Mayor's statements still need support by measured data, the restrictions on dirty trucks have been strongly supported by environmental and community groups.

The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, a group of over 100 environmental, health and labor organizations, fought for the adoption of the program over the objections of some in the trucking industry.

"The Clean Trucks Program plan to reduce truck diesel emissions is one of the most progressive in the world," said Lass of the NRDC, a member of the coalition. "It is significant because truck pollution is a large part of the pollution puzzle."

The program successfully banned all pre-1989 trucks, which are highly pollutant. Trucks that comply with 2007 emissions standards produce 98% less particulate matter than a 1989 model, says Sanfield.

As Dr. Bernstein put it: "Whether it's 80 percent or 82 percent or 78 percent. It doesn't really matter. What matters is you go from where it is today and you cut it down by a lot."

Anthony Rosario: Employee of the Month

2009-11-16T04:56:27Z

Anthony Rosario was the kind of guy who enjoyed helping people in the quietest ways. Never looking for praise or recognition. He just did it anyway.

At McDonald's he saw a mother trying to split a few meals among all her children. He overheard the mother explain to her still-hungry kids she didn't have enough money to buy more. So what did Anthony do? He quietly slipped $5 to the eldest, a 13-year-old boy. "Go get yourselves something," he said.

Another time he took a walk with his sibling when a hub cap flew off a car and hit his sister's leg. Their brother laughed. But not Anthony. He hoisted his little sister on his back and carried her the three miles home.

That was Anthony: a helper, a mender, someone who was ready to fix a problem at hand.

At his funeral friends and family filled a large cardboard poster with different memories, many of which related to how he had helped them. One friend wrote about the first time she met Anthony. She cried by herself as fellow high school students passed her in the halls, simply ignoring her. But not Anthony. He knelt down and comforted her.

They didn't know each other but that didn't matter. Because that was Anthony.

When people needed their car fixed, he fixed it. He loved cars and motorcycles and spent the last two years selling cars at North Hollywood Toyota. When people needed a haircut, he cut it. When his mother needed something from the grocery store, he bought it. And he never complained.

Anthony died July 30, 2009 of swine flu at age 28, a week before his August birthday. His mother says he had asthma as a child, but was healthy before he was admitted to the Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. He stayed in the hospital three weeks after being admitted with 103-degree temperature. The hospital struggled to keep his temperature down and could not figure out exactly what ailed him. While doctors tested him for a series of different sicknesses, including swine flu, they also gave him a long treatment of antibiotics. The death certificate says he died of adult respiratory distress syndrome and H1N1 virus.

After his death Anthony's brother found a poem saved on Anthony's computer. The family reprinted the poem on key chains and T-shirts, which they wore for the funeral. The poem seemed to describe the way he lived his life, "The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway."

by Jessica Flores and Madeleine Scinto

(check out neontommy.com for the whole swine flu scoop)

Spider Pavilion: Slideshow

2009-10-25T18:06:29Z

Spider Pavilion: Slideshow

2009-10-25T17:33:16Z

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles: Spider Pavilion

2009-10-12T01:17:25Z

In the spirit of Halloween, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles has put on a spider exhibit through November 8th. It's a "wonderful world of arachnids," as the museum's website puts it. The best part is the museum has a tent outside where some of its spiders roam freely. Tickets are $3 for adults, $2 students and seniors, $1 children, and museum members enter free. Open daily 1000AM to 500PM.

"Wow!" said Allison Boomer, 9.

"Awesome," said Klyde Gerros, 8.

Nancy Kim, 73

Vidal Osnay, 29

Chris Loomis, 39, says he came to the Spider Pavilion from Hollywood to make some tips.

West Hollywood Book Fair

2009-10-04T21:57:51Z

The 8th Annual West Hollywood Book Fair. As diverse as the people who live there. Gay and lesbian books, Ayn Rand philosophy books, Russian children's books, baby tattoo books, Wizard of OZ interpretation books, and the list goes on. Lots of authors, lots of comics, lots of public readings and even some rapping about "A, B, C ing."

Christiane Amanpour

2009-09-30T13:49:14Z

Two words: kick ass. That's Christiane Amanpour. She's a woman whose bold, adventuresome, battle zone crazy and over 50 Amanpour covers the hottest, most controversial topics and regions out there... Bosnia, Palestine, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few. Bullets, mortar and genocide really don't seem to be a problem for the woman. And what's better, she doesn't mind sniffing around and asking big honchos about it either.

Amanpour is the kind of lady who would mortify your grandmother at the dinner table...she loves the two subjects you can never talk about but are so delicious...religion and politics.

So being this big journalist superstar--she's the chief international correspondent for CNN and before that reported for 60 Minutes---you would think she'd have an internet footprint a mile-long. And what do you know? Yep. She does. Pictures, videos and biography entries about her bust up the internet.

Her CNN bio with her awards and recognitions a mile long:

"She has secured exclusive interviews with world leaders from the Middle East to Europe to Africa and beyond, including Iranian Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as the presidents of Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria and Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat among others. After 9/11 she was the first international correspondent to interview British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Her body of work has earned an inaugural Television Academy Honor, nine News and Documentary Emmys, four George Foster Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, the Courage in Journalism Award, an Edward R. Murrow award and other major journalism awards as well as honorary degrees from The American University of Paris, Georgetown University, New York University, Smith College, Emory University and the University of Michigan.

In 2007, Amanpour was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her 'highly distinguished, innovative contribution' to the field of journalism. In 1998, the City of Sarajevo named her an honorary citizen for her 'personal contribution to spreading the truth' during the Bosnia war from 1992 to 1995. "

George Stephanopoulos interviews her about elections and work:

Amanpour on Colbert Report:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Christiane Amanpour

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Michael Moore

And of course..clips of some of her work...

She's all over the place and for good reason. She's a great journalist.

Interestingly enough, if you'll notice, she's on the internet in a completely professional way. The only personal information I could out about her was on wikipedia...and we all know how reliable that can be...which said she had a son and was married to a former employee of the State Department.

That of course will be changing..but does it really matter? Um. Probably not. As far as I'm concerned almost no personal information on the internet about Amanpour would deter me from watching her. I mean, how can you beat a 50 year-old balls out woman who runs into war zones and calls our major world leaders?

Twitter: 90007 and Villaraigosa

2009-09-20T15:56:53Z

So let's be honest with ourselves... Who goes to city council meetings? Who sits through school board functions? Who is interested in listening to the county board of supervisors drone on and on? And who even knows what the heck the water district does?

Most people, and no one blames them, don't follow local politics. Reading up on local politics can be time consuming and boring, and it often misses the "so what?" elements. (Plus, to be perfectly honest, local politicians can be wildly incompetent...it's depressing.)

The whole thing is unfortunate because local politics, believe it or not, tends to have a greater impact on people's daily lives than any other kind of politics. How the school board votes, for example, will have a greater impact on your child tomorrow than any Race to the Top bill. How the city decides to rezone property near your neighborhood will have a bigger effect on your immediate property value than anything the state passes. And just take little things...like if the city decides to change parking laws or increase the price of tickets. It could negatively impact you everyday for a very long time.

Policies that local politicians pass will have a much greater and immediate impact than national or state policies. It's local, it's faster...like it or not..that's the way it is..

Plus, people who don't follow local politics are missing out on some quality entertainment. Have you ever seen the "bar flies" of city council meetings? Have you seen the people who religiously go to every meeting, every week like the council room is their Mecca? Trust me, it's so much better than any soap opera or reality TV show. And if you secretly enjoys things like the Blago chronicles or the Sanford saga, then you'd love local politics. It's like national scandal but on crack.

A couple years ago, for example, the people of Orange elected a complete loon onto to their Orange School Board. No one really understands how he won the election. Some people think he might've won because his name was first on the ballot and he gave himself the title "educator." He actually didn't campaign at all. ( It shows how little people follow local politics.)

So the people elected him, Steve Rocco, to be an Orange School Board Member. He started going to every meeting and accusing the Orange School District, and the other Orange School Board Members, of all these crazy conspiracies.

Steve Rocco

Courtesy of the Orange County Register

Rocco accused his colleagues of many things; one of his accusations being that his colleagues were trying to censor him at meetings and violating his freedom of speech. He tried to sue them but lost.

Of course, the fun didn't end there. Rocco decided to go to Chapman University, two of the Chapman professors did a documentary on Rocco, and steal a Heinz ketchup bottle from the cafeteria. The city actually prosecuted him for stealing a 25 cent ketchup bottle.

If that isn't entertaining...please tell me what is. I mean, come on! It's so amazing it's delicious.

So anyway, now that you know you want to follow local politics, if for any reason at all at least for the entertainment, you can actually do it in five minutes or less.

And the answer is...drum roll ..TWITTER! YA! Yes, you heard me, that website that named itself after bird chirps. I know it sounds stupid, but if you want to hear about local political happenings in no time then go to twitter.

I went to the Twitter search engine and typed in "Villaraigosa." In the zipcode I put 90007 and clicked that I wanted to read tweets within a five mile radius. And battabing, battaboom, out came news about some new Villaraigosa happenings. For example, did you know...

Cocoxochitl: RT @snailwrangler Sigh...Villaraigosa signed L.A. ordinance into law eliminating farmers' market fee waivers:http://laist.com/2009/09/18/villaraigosa_signs_special_events_o.php (contract)
Los Angeles
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
Or did you know...
- villaraigosa: RT @MobilityMaven Streets @ Nokia Theater closed for EMMYs 9/20 from 6:00 AM thru midnight. More info at http://trafficinfo.lacity.org/
  Los Angeles, CA
  about 17 hours ago from TwitterBerry · Reply · View Tweet
- villaraigosa: RT @civicrafa Cleaning up Watts on Heal the Bay's National Coastal cleanup day. Myr's, City Attny's Offc, YO Watts, and LACC are working it!
  Los Angeles, CA
  about 18 hours ago from TwitterBerry · Reply · View Tweet

Or what about this...

voicenewspaper: Mayor Villaraigosa will address press questions re: LA City Council's actions on the passing of the City budget at 2:30pm TODAY -
Los Angeles
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

Twitter: It's the beauty of local politics in 140 characters or less.

"Playback" : Obama's Health Care Speech

2009-09-13T14:08:39Z

Live blogs, excited tweets and re-mixed broadcast clips flooded the internet last Wednesday as journalists scrammbled to cover Obama's health care speech. Websites tried to be new and sassy in synthesizing the story through a combination of innovative multi-media techniques.

Politico and The HuffPost provide two good examples.

HuffPost

Bloggers/Journalists of the Huffington made comments about Obama's speech on a bloggers reaction page as Obama gave the speech. All the bloggers/journalists that participated in the live blog have been writing about the health care debate since this past summer, when Obama initiated a reform plan. As can be expected of the Huffington, a liberal leaning website, the bloggers gave Obama very positive reviews.

Examples include:

Paul Begala: "Obama's speech rallied dispirited Democrats, reassured disenchanted independents and intimidated Republicans. He called out lies, and pledged to call out the right-wing thugs if they continue lying.

Peter Dreier: "Having a president who inspires people to act collectively on their own behalf can make a difference. It gives people hope and courage to defy obstacles."

Ray Hanania: "The President's speech was so powerful it probably sent many of the nation's health insurance industry robber barons into economic cardiac arrest."

However, some of the Huffington bloggers seemed upset about the President's lack of commitment to a public option.

Cenk Uygur: "Why bah humbug Obama's health care speech? Because it went almost exactly as predicted. Great rhetorical flourishes, but did anyone hear him say that he was definitely going to fight for the public option? No."

But most were upset about the Republican "You Lie" and Sarah Palin. Why liberal bloggers chose to pass the attention to Republicans, the same Republicans who are very out of power, beats the who-ya out of me. I guess it was more entertaining to write about...

John R. Bohrer: "Republicans are so high on themselves that one thought nothing of screaming, "Lie!" at the President of the United States as he was, ironically, in the middle of dispelling their lies."

Bob Burnett: "On September 9, Republican members of the House and Senate acted like petulant fraternity boys forced to attend Sunday mass."

Shannyn Moore: "Palin's Facebook page response to the president's speech on health care reform, I had to walk away and count to ten -- in Russian. Here is her statement with my response."

As you can see, the entries were very pithy and straight to the point. They mimicked a sort of twitter style without the exact 140 character limitation. The bloggers also had the option to make their comments longer by linking to their own blog pages, although the only thing that shows up on the Huffington reaction page is the short blurb.

The most interesting aspect to the live blog would be the twitter feed Huffington attached to the bottom. It's interesting to see the citizen perspective on the speech alongside the pundit comments. What's more interesting is which tweets Huffington decided to add to its page. It shows what the Huffington perceives as important public comments or at least what it thinks public comments should be.

Politico

Politico covered the speech through a mixture of strategies. Throughout the day it posted a lot of articles written about the upcoming address as sort of a pre-game or lead-up to the main event. It also summarized the health care plan and added some analysis, like a traditional news outlet would, immediately following the speech. One of the articles that compared Obama's speech to Clinton's 1993 speech on health care reform was particularly interesting. The Politico journalist, Eamon Javers, went so far as to count the number of times both Presidents used the same jargon in their speeches. However, the more telling analysis Javers made related to the style and composition of the Obama speech versus the Clinton speech.

Politico also effectively used it multimedia to cover the speech. It condensed Obama's hour long address into a series of five minute segments. Each segment was subtitled, which made it very easy for the user who did not want to watch the whole speech get the main gist of it. It included a 6 minute highlights reel.

"Highlights of Obama's Address":

Other Politico segments included...

"Obama lays out public option"

"Obama on Kennedy Letter"

The news site also did it's re-mix of "cable chatter" from all the different broadcast organizations. It made it easy to get reactions from the pundits and proved to be entertaining, thanks especially to the Rep. Wilson "You Lie!" comment.

And, in true Politico style, something funny from the speech...

HuffPost vs. Politico

These two very different websites captured the speech coverage in different ways. The HuffPost, being more partisan focused, used it as a kind of rallying moment. Its bloggers/commenters tended to be positive and when they weren't it was only to attack the right (aka Wilson comment and Palin). Politico, on the other hand, used the opportunity to blast around 50 pieces on the subject. Many of the articles lead up to the Obama address that day; the articles provided a lot of pre and post analysis. Politico also pushed its multimedia through its "playback" videos and the segment highlights. Of course, both the Huffpost and Politico provided a full transcript of the speech and video to go with it.

Citizen Journalism Beats a Bad Rap

2009-09-05T23:19:55Z

"It's not hard to see why Santa Ana is floundering under more than a $40 Million dollar budget deficit," says Thomas Gordon in his OC Blog entry. "Why is Santa Ana,.... tossing out an additional $162,911 to a bidder that should have accurately bid on the scope of work?"

Gordon's criticism of local spending exemplifies the OC Blog's purpose. The website functions as an Orange County Republican watchdog network, a forum for citizen journalists to share information with other OC GOP-ers about local political happenings. According to the Blog it "aims to educate readers, spark discussion, and forge common ground among the most distinguished political and business leaders, activists, and organizations in Orange County." The OC Blog has become the go-to place to learn about local Republican affairs.

The OC Blog captures the two primary functions of citizen journalism. First, it provides the community a convenient social networking forum. People who share local political interests come together and coordinate themselves; it works as an effective community-organizing tool. Second, participants give a first person perspective on events and provide input on a hyper-local level. Their accounts act neither as a passing interest nor something someone assigned he or she to investigate. Rather than taking that quick bite of the world, citizen journalists share a bit of their own lives and contribute unique insight. The clips witnesses posted of the Mumbai attacks (2008), the Virginia Tech shootings (2007) and the London Bombings (2005), for example, all testify to the idea of sharing personal life bites. These happenstance citizen journalists exposed what was a local issue for them and turned it global with the World Wide Web.

Citizen journalism challenges professional journalism in several ways. Due to the very nature of citizen journalism, citizen journalists develop a much stronger connection with readers than their professional counterparts. The stories written by citizen journalists communicate directly to their website participants. In addition, citizen journalists have an easy time writing about the genuine interests and concerns of the community because they are active participants within that community. Professionals should use citizen journalist websites as places to look for leads.

Dr. Bentley, Journalism Professor at the University of Missouri, explains, "The essence of new journalists is to treat the Internet as a massive wire service upon which billions of stories run each day. New journalists can search through this mass to find content most appealing to his or her readers."

Professionals should also take advantage of citizen journalists who act as watchdogs. The Exposing Earmarks project, a website created to expose the pork added to congressional spending bills, demonstrates a great example of citizen watchdog work. Each time citizens uncover new pork it gives professionals an opportunity to write a full story about it. Citizen watchdogs also better the field by pressuring journalists to get the facts right a hundred percent of the time. They prevent dishonest reporting like Rathergate, an incident where CNBC correspondent Dan Rather misreported a story about President Bush and his National Guard service, from happening again. Perhaps if Rather had leaked some of his material before running it on air, citizen watchdogs could have saved him instead of embarrassing him out of his career.

Citizen journalism should not be perceived as a threat but as an opportunity for change and innovation.

Sources:

Bentley, Clyde. "Citizen Journalism: Back to the Future?" Discussion paper prepared for

the Carnegie‐Knight Conference on the Future of Journalism, Cambridge, MA. June 20‐21, 2008.

Gillmor, Dan. We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.

O'Reily Media Inc.: Sebastopol, CA. 2006.

Glaser, Mark. "Your Guide to Citizen Journalism." Media Shift: Your Guide to the

Digital Media Revolution, Public Broadcasting Service. Sept. 27, 2006.

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody. Penguin Group Inc.: New York, NY. 2008.

Wagner, Mitch. "CNN Creates Citizen Journalism Channels on Web, In Second Life."

The Information Week Blog: The Information Week Business Technology Network. March 24, 2008.

" The 'Fix' ": Politico, Sacbee and The Post

2009-08-30T17:14:43Z

Washingtonpost.com, Politico.com, Sacbee.com

History and Contents

Washingtonpost.com, politico.com and sacbee.com all have great reputations for their political coverage. These three websites are widely respected and well known, especially in the political junkie world. The Post focuses on national politics and the DC metro area, the Sacbee focuses on California politics and the northern California/greater Sacramento area, and Politico focuses exclusively on national politics. Politico, in contrast to the other websites, focuses on a very niche market.

The Sacbee and the Post are both old, traditional newspapers that have adapted to the dotcom boom with their successful online publications. Politico started a few years ago as an online publication but, due to popular demand, has recently developed a paper version of itself. (Interestingly enough, Politico's moneymaker turned out to be its paper version.)

The Set-Up

All three websites hire journalists to run blogs. These journalists, or blog operators, are very knowledgeable about the subjects they cover and have a knack for finding interesting story angles. The Post has bloggers like Chris Cillizza and Howard Kuntz, Politico has bloggers like Anne Schroeder and Michael Calderone, and the Sacebee has bloggers like running Dan Walters and Marcos Bretton. My favorite blogs tend to be witty and fun to read, which is why I like Politico's blogs the best.

All three websites also use multi-media including video, audio and photo slideshows. However, all three websites use and approach these tools in a distinct way.

For the most part, the Post uses multi-media to enhance its stories instead of as a tool to complement the overall website. The approach explains why it does not have a multi-media tab on the homepage. The Post expects users to access its multi-media components by clicking on a specific story and then clicking on the video, audio or photo slideshow that corresponds with that story.

The Post puts together pieces using its own audio clips and photos, but borrows a lot of camera footage from other news sources like AP or CNN. The video it puts online tends to only cover major events and news conferences, and is taken directly from the broadcast news sources without any alteration. The way it simply plops the material into its multi-media section makes it boring to watch. In addition, the original video reporting the Post does do is not very interesting.

The Sacbee approaches multi-media similarly to the Post. It uses multi-media tools to enhance its news stories and disperses the material throughout its publication. It also has a multi-media section like Politico that is accessible from the homepage, but it's hard to find. You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. I find the Sacbee to be the weakest multi-media operator of the three websites because it does not use enough of a variety. However, the Sacbee does do excellent video reports. They're fun, engaging and give good information.

Another quick distinction between Sacbee multi-media and the Post and Politico multi-media is that it does not use camera footage from TV broadcast news. It takes all its own video and puts it together.

Politico has the most engaging and comprehensive multi-media section of the three websites. It uses an mélange of everything in a variety of styles and covers all sorts of topics from the Kennedy funeral to "regular folk" street interviews. The videos include "insider" blurbs from Politico journalists, kitschy "TV news broadcasts," and controversial political advertisements being played in different parts of the country.

Of the three websites, Politico does the most video reporting. The videos may include wacky graphics and other funny material, but the content is very good and credible. It also rarely borrows full clips from a single news station like the Post does. In addition, it is the only website of the three that makes it easy to access its multi-media by providing a multi-media tab on the top of its homepage, as well as linking individual videos to its homepage and articles. The way Politico structures its multi-media is to complement its articles and the website as a whole.

For example, Politico has also developed what it calls "Politico Playback," a section of clips that puts all the highlights from the political broadcast shows together. The splice and dice mix is a great way to see what all the pundits are talking about and hear quick interview blurbs from big politicians. It makes it easy for the user to see ABC Morning News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and the O'Reily Factor all in the span of three minutes. Some of Politico's Playbacks also include highlights from the late night comedy shows that poke fun at politics. They're fun to watch.

Although these clips are not linked up to a specific article, they complement the website as a whole. Politico's mixture of online articles, broadcast "re-mixes," and video reporting helps it cover all realms of the political journalism world. The comprehensive multi-media section makes me feel like there is no reason to go anywhere else for news on national politics. It summarizes cable chatter, TV broadcast news and even late night political comedy in a matter of a few minutes while giving the reader quality articles. In fact, its articles have as much detail and depth as the articles written for the Post.

It seems to coordinate all the news outlets about the political world into one website, which is probably what has made it so successful.

Train Tops to Santa Ana

2009-08-23T21:34:43Z

SANTA ANA--- "I like the good life," said Edwin Alvarez. "And the cheap beer." His answer as to why he wanted to stay in the United States resonated in its simplicity. It was charming, almost charming enough to distract from the house arrest bracelet strapped firmly to his leg.

He sat back in his chair, sipped on the cool Modelo and absorbed his surroundings; it's a one-bedroom Santa Ana apartment he shares with five others while he awaits his immigration hearing.

Alvarez, a 20 year-old Honduran immigrant, came to the United States illegally five years ago. After escaping an extremely abusive upbringing at the age of ten, Alvarez had no real family as a young teenage boy and decided to venture north. He ventured through Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico for five days via train roof, sneaking from train top to train top until arriving at his Tijuana destination. Fifteen hundred dollars and a coyote tour later, both provided for by his Uncle who also resides in the States illegally, Alvarez landed in Santa Ana.

He stayed with his Uncle until his Uncle's wife chased him out, resorting to moving through the homes of different extended relatives and strangers. During this time Alvarez tried a stint of high school but quit shortly thereafter. Being illiterate, he found it too hard to catch up and his diminutive physical size made it difficult for him to socialize with peers his own age. (In Honduras he suffered from malnourishment making his fifteen year-old body look like that of a very young ten year-old.) He took up gardening.

Five years following his arrival, on Mother's Day, the Santa Ana police escorted Alvarez to jail where he stayed two days for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Since the arrest he has spent the past six months on house arrest at his uncle's ex-girlfriend's apartment; it was the only address the police could find for him. Alvarez awaits his immigration trial patiently, fully expecting to be deported.

When asked what he will do when he returns to Honduras, he again answers simply. "I will steal. I don't steal here but in Honduras I can't find work so I steal. I will steal for three months and then I will come back. There are plenty of train roofs."