Monks & Merrill

Hour 2 - LA City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian joins Monks & Merrill to discuss rising crime concerns on LA Metro following the pause of the Tap-to-Exit program and how the measure fits into Metro’s broader safety strategy. Plus, the council’s decision to suspend the CARE+ program during environmental emergencies and the latest developments surrounding an LA neighborhood’s notorious trash-filled home.

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Hour 3 - Southern California renters are feeling the pressure as rents rise across 58% of the region’s cities. Young people are also leaving Los Angeles for unexpected destinations, including Fresno. Plus, Christa Pike’s lawyers speak out after her failed execution, and Governor Gavin Newsom weighs whether to spare the lives of all 563 people currently on California’s death row.

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Hour 1 - The earlier LAFD investigation tried to answer a technical question: what physically caused the Lineage Logistics fire?

Nithya Raman is taking heavy fire over a since-deleted campaign video that paired the phrase “Only you can stop fascist liars” with images of Mayor Karen Bass and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, including a red X over McDonnell’s face.

Councilwoman Traci Park wants to broaden Los Angeles Munic...

Hour 2 - The Los Angeles Police Protective League is escalating its opposition to Measure FD, the half-cent sales tax increase backed by the firefighters union, by preparing to spend millions of dollars against it.

Garden Grove will require hotels to give employees working alone in guestrooms personal security devices beginning January 1.

Orange County has formally ended its relationship with Mind OC, the nonprofit behind Be Well O...

Hour 3 - Voters are increasingly using ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and other AI tools to research candidates, compare positions and sort through down-ballot races that receive little traditional news coverage.

California's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team now rates LAUSD at high risk of insolvency, citing chronic deficit spending, declining enrollment, rising labor costs, soaring special-education expenses and a school...

Hour 1 - President Trump was defending the war with Iran and its economic costs Monday night when he suddenly invoked Los Angeles and San Diego as cities Iran could potentially “take out.”

The Trump administration has opened a federal enforcement action against LAUSD, arguing that district policies improperly allow schools to keep a student’s gender identity and other sensitive information from parents.

LAUSD...

Hour 2 - Southern California is in the middle of an unusually long and intense October heat wave, with temperatures running roughly 15 to 22 degrees above normal in many areas, and Extreme Heat Warnings continue.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed SB 868, creating a legal pathway for small plug-in solar systems that renters and homeowners can install without going through the full rooftop-solar interconnection process. Co-Founder of Brig...

Hour 3 - Councilwoman Traci Park wants Los Angeles to substantially broaden Municipal Code 41.18, the city’s anti-camping law, by adding more protected locations and eliminating a procedural step that currently requires the full City Council to approve many individual no-camping zones.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering stepping into LAPD’s rapidly expanding use of automated license plate readers.

A new Hilton-...

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Metrolink raises fares today, October 5, for the first time in 13 years. Does charging paying customers more actually fix a transit system struggling with ridership and finances?

Hollywood Burbank Airport cuts the ribbon today on a new 355,000-square-foot terminal that begins handling passengers Tuesday, October 13.

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken now acknowledges she had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

Federal...

Hour 2 - New Pew research argues that California's housing shortage is itself a major cause of poverty, with unusually high rents swallowing much of the benefit from programs designed to help struggling households.

Your argument holds up, with one important refinement: Latino voters could be decisive not because they are moving together, but because they are deeply divided by age, housing status and political priorities.

Scientists...

Hour 3 - Measure ULA has undeniably produced substantial money for affordable housing and homelessness programs, but research increasingly suggests it also changes behavior in the very real-estate market the city needs to produce housing.

A new 724-page independent investigation commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom lays out a blunt picture of the Eaton and Palisades fires. The report makes 266 recommendations, and some of its findings...

It's MORE Monks & Merrill! Here's the best of the week: CSUN Professor Chhandak Basu joins us to discuss his NASA-funded research into how leafy greens grow and microbes survive in space. If and when California DOES get high speed rail, where do we put the stops?  Plus, guest Rishaan Marwaha joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to discuss how AI is impacting schools and students—and how California higher education i...

Hour 1 - We take a closer look at some eye-opening developments involving the LAPD. Why did 302 LAPD officers clear more than $300,000 last year, while only 15 officers at the much larger NYPD did? Plus, speed demons beware—speed cameras are coming to Los Angeles, with Malibu’s test cameras already recording 100,000 violations. 

KFI News Reporter Jason Nathanson joins us in studio to break down what’s coming ...

Hour 2 -The Monks and Merrill Show, we’re going from the cutting edge of space technology to controversy on the ground in Southern California. Google’s Project Suncatcher is officially headed to space—what could the future of computing look like beyond Earth? CSUN Professor Chhandak Basu joins us to discuss his NASA-funded research into how leafy greens grow and microbes survive in space. 

Then, we turn to An...

Hour 3 - We break down Southern California’s latest headlines. Southern California Edison is offering more than $1 billion in compensation to community members impacted by the Eaton Fire. Plus, Altadena fire survivors are pushing for SB 1090, seeking to limit high-density rebuilding. Guest Shawna Dawson Beer of Beautiful Altadena joins us to discuss the fight over what rebuilding should look like. 

And as Los Angeles Cou...

Hour 1 - Jayson Campadonia joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to break down the latest California governor’s debate between Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra, along with new polling involving L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman. Plus, Gov. Gavin Newsom signs AB 2222, creating refundable tax credits for qualifying California news organizations to help retain and hire journalists.

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Hour 2 - Anthropic is preparing to go public as concerns over AI safety and oversight continue to grow. Is “self-policing” enough as AI rapidly evolves? Plus, guest Rishaan Marwaha joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to discuss how AI is impacting schools and students—and how California higher education is responding to the rapid changes brought by artificial intelligence.

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Hour 3 - Los Angeles is preparing for another blast of extreme heat, with triple-digit temperatures expected this weekend. Plus, LA28 is considering event cancellation insurance, the Huntington Beach Airshow takes to the skies, and Airshow CEO and creator Kevin Elliot joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to talk about this weekend’s big aviation event. And Gov. Gavin Newsom makes a very public bridge-climbing appearance.

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