Housing Crash Haunts the Antelope Valley

I have done extensive reporting on the Antelope Valley, focusing on the housing market. City officials and developers agree the low point of the housing bust was last summer. Now, buyers are expressing a little more interest in homes, though banks are now hesitant to lend.

I photographed hundreds of homes for this piece, and I was on the lookout for foreclosed homes that were in particularly bad shape. They weren’t hard to find.

Residential housing has grown tremendously in the Antelope Valley; during the boom years (2004-2008) between 2,500 and 3,000 homes were built each year.

Final online package posted

Check it out here.

For this package I added to print and broadcast packages I had already completed. There are additional interview clips, more information on how to get an initiative on the California ballot, and survey results to show current level of interest.

Californians reflect on idea of constitutional convention

For my fourth broadcast package I attended a summit on the idea of holding a constitutional convention to rewrite parts of the California constitution. Then I interviewed average Californians to see what they thought about the idea.

Constitutional convention best way to save California, says business group

 Panelists at constitutional convention summit, originally uploaded by mwevitt.

(Originally published April 18) A novel proposal to call a convention to modify California’s bloated constitution was widely supported by audience members at a panel discussion Friday, but the panelists’ reservations reflected just how difficult the reform process will be. 

Convention proponent Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business advocacy group, said California’s current troubles stem from the current constitution.

“We’ve all been watching this downward trend in our state’s fiscal system,” he said. “There really isn’t any good end in sight.”

The focus of Wunderman’s plan is to reform the constitution so approval of the budget does not require a two-thirds majority to pass, extend term limits for legislators, implement an open primary system and reform the tax code.

As the constitution stands now, however, only a two-thirds vote in support from the legislature can call a convention. Wunderman’s way around this is two-fold: Place a proposition on the ballot to amend the constitution allowing Californian voters to call a convention, then also have those same voters exercise their new rights and call a convention.

Speaking before an audience of about 60 people at the Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, brought together by the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley and Region, Wunderman acknowledged the plan was risky and complicated.

“This is a very, very big idea but we’re down, and we need to do something,” Wunderman said. “If it were a football game and it were late in the game and we’re down by six points, we’d sure want to get in a position to throw a Hail Mary. If that’s what this is, then so be it.”

California last held a constitutional convention in 1879, when the issue of the day was the rights afforded to Chinese immigrants. Since then the constitution has been amended more than 500 times.

In an interview after the convention summit had ended, Wunderman gave his proposal good odds of succeeding.

“I think they’ll be likely to do it,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest in this. People recognize that this is a crisis and it shouldn’t be wasted and that this is an opportunity for California to achieve big changes and turn this state back in a better direction and provide a government structure that would be much more workable in modern times.”

Summit attendees seemed to agree with Wunderman. Of the 29 people who completed a survey asking if they supported a constitutional convention, 24 said they did.

But those responses are a far cry from a random sampling of Californians. And while more than 400 people attended the Bay Area Council’s first meeting in Sacramento introducing the idea of a constitutional convention, Friday’s turnout was much more modest.

Panelists also raised concerns about the intricate logistics involved. Adam Summers, a policy analyst from the Reason Foundation, said he was worried seating the delegates for the convention would become a special-interest grab-bag.

State Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster) said a constitutional convention “would never happen” and wanted to see California’s budgetary problems handled by the legislature.

“I think everything is done better in a smaller fight,” he said.

Joel Fox, president of the Small Business Action Committee and the strongest opponent of the proposal, had concerns about the planning needed. In an interview after the panel wrapped up he questioned the feasibility of even educating enough voters about the idea of a convention.

“I think it’s got a long haul to try and be successful because there’s a lot of education process to take place for people to understand what the constitutional convention is all about,” he said. “And then you have to convince them to go through with it.”

The Bay Area Council hopes to get the convention questions on the November 2010 ballot. This will require signatures from almost 700,000 registered voters. Wunderman said the Council will start holding more general interest meetings throughout the state to begin gathering support.

But even those who think the plan is unlikely, like United Chambers Chairman Stephen Holzer, admit the state is in uncharted waters where anything might happen.

“If things get bad enough then there will be a good chance,” he said. “I have a hard time seeing how things will get that bad, but who knows? We didn’t think things would get this bad.”

A Cinderella Tale for Dogs

When Angel, a German shepherd, was 10 months old, she had just been returned to an animal shelter and her previous owner had labeled her “berserk.” A year later she is the star of red-carpet events for pets and is well on her way to scripting her own Hollywood ending to her suddenly charmed life.

“We’ll do red-carpet events and she’s perfect, she’ll sit right beside me,” said her owner, Megan Blake. “Everyone wants to see her. She’s an amazing spokesdog for throwaways. That’s what she is.”

Blake is a co-host of “Animal Attractions Television,” a show airing on PBS. She is an advocate for pet rescues and shelter dogs and currently owns six pets, including Angel. As a pet lifestyle specialist she counsels people on how to smoothly integrate a pet into a home.

Encouraging Reading on Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

IMG_1807, originally uploaded by mwevitt.

(Originally published March 7) Students at Hammel Elementary School heard a Dr. Seuss story, participated in activities based on his books and ate birthday cake to celebrate the noted children’s book author’s 105th birthday Friday.

The day’s festivities were programmed by college students at California State University Los Angeles who work as tutors at Hammel Elementary as part of the America Reads and Counts program.

Cal State Los Angeles Provost Desdemona Cardoza started the event by reading the Dr. Seuss book “I Can Read with my Eyes Shut.” Before beginning the story she donned a Cat in the Hat-type hat and encouraged about 50 students siting in front of her to go to college.

“I hope to see you at my school, Cal State L.A., someday,” Cardoza said.

All the children in attendance were receiving help from the Cal State Los Angeles tutors because they needed to improve their reading skills.

Maribel Guzman, the resource specialist at Hammel, said events like the one on Friday were especially beneficial to students who struggle with reading.

“The students are having a blast,” she said. “Here is where they can show their strengths, instead of showing their weaknesses. They interact, you don’t have behavior issues here, they follow directions. So it’s a different opportunity to see how they interact with peers.”

Out of the approximately 900 students at Hammel Elementry, 101 receive help from the Cal State Los Angeles tutors. Most tutors visit the school at least three days a week for one-on-one or small-group time with their students.

The America Reads and Counts team also distributes books donated by Reading is Fundamental, a literacy organization, four times a year.

“Some of our students really, really need that additional push to improve and develop that love for reading, just by coming here.” Guzman said. “They want to read the books they received through the event, and they’re grateful, they enjoy. This is something they will remember forever.”

America Reads and Counts is a federally funded work-study program that places college students in local elementary schools to tutor below-grade-level reading and math students. The Cal State Los Angeles group has 35 tutors who work at five Los Angeles-area schools, including Hammel Elementary in East Los Angeles.

Anastasia Balum, the site coordinator at Hammel and a Cal State Los Angeles student who will be graduating this spring, said the program is vital because it targets kids early to help with their reading challenges.

“We like to focus on elementary schools because this is where it starts,” Balum said. “A lot of times in these communities the kids just get pushed along and the farther they go without the basics, the harder it is for them in middle school and high school.”

Balum said the easiest way to measure the success of the program was to look at how many students returned for reading help the following year. This school year, five students from the prior year, out of more than 100, are receiving help again.

At the birthday celebration Friday, volunteers in addition to the America Reads and Counts tutors were on hand to run activities like making “goo” and tossing tennis balls into buckets labeled “Thing One” and “Thing Two.”

Emmanual Arreola, president of the Cal State Los Angeles fraternity Gamma Zeta Alpha, said volunteering was especially needed in the Latino community.

“We try to be mentors for people who don’t have a mentor or father figure in the household,” Arreola said.

Tutor Luis Acevedo said his students were eager to form a connection with him.

“I’ve noticed with some of my students they sort of seek a sort of mentorship, and I get to provide that through this program,” he said. “I get to talk to them about college.”

The America Reads and Counts program culminates with a spring event where the tutors bring their students to the Cal State Los Angeles campus.

The festivities, part of the National Education Association’s Read Across America day, came a few days after the actual March 2 birthday of Dr. Seuss, the penname of Theodor Geisel.

 

Honoring Cesar Chavez through service

For my day-of-air package on March 31 I reported on an event celebrating Cesar Chavez day at the Museum of Tolerance. High school students from seven Los Angeles schools gathered to report on progress on their service learning projects done in conjunction with the museum. Watch to learn more.

Tornado Touchdown in Culver City

For my third broadcast package I reported on a mild tornado that touched down just blocks from my apartment. The tornado lasted about 20 seconds and blew down a Chinese elm. The elm crushed a Ford Explorer across the street, but no people were hurt.

Experimenting with using data in online reporting

Assignment in online reporting class: Find a data set and experiment with displaying it online using Many Eyes.

I brainstormed briefly and decided to look for numbers on the U.S. prison population. They are readily available through the Department of Justice. 

The key part is to figure out the best way to display the data. Below is my first attempt.

Then I realized it would be much more interesting to compare prison population to each state’s total population as a way to look for outliers. Texas and California have the largest prison populations, but they are also the two most populous states. Below is how I represented that data.

New online package posted

Check it out here.

For this package I worked with extra material I had from a broadcast package. I had lots of great interviews that I cut together for additional video, and also included a write-up of the story.