Transcript
ISABEL SILAGY, INTRO: This is Beach Weekly.
(SOUNDBITE OF “SUMMER SOLSTICE ON THE JUNE PLANET” – BAIL BONDS)
KAITLYN ROWELL – Hello and Welcome to Season 10 episode two of Beach Weekly, a podcast created and produced by Long Beach State student run newspaper, The Daily Forty-Niner. My name is Kaitlyn Rowell.
ISABEL SILAGY – And I’m Isabel Silagy. And we are so excited to be back as your hosts once again today. I’m sure you all know there’s a lot happening in the news right now so we have a lot to cover. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
The California State University Board of Trustees is encouraging students to participate in its ongoing search for the CSU ninth Chancellor. Three open forum events for the chancellor search will be held in early February and CSU students will be able to provide feedback and their thoughts about what the values and priorities of the next chancellor should be.
The first forum will take place at the Office of the Chancellor right here in Long Beach. And the second and third forum events will be held at CSU Bakersfield and San Francisco State University.
Students are able to listen in or livestream all three forums and can register for the events on the CSU website.
KAITLYN ROWELL – In a report from Long Beach Post, the Long Beach Public Works Department has announced that it will open a second winter shelter site for unhoused people. Public Workers director Eric Lopez stated that the decision to open a second winter shelter for the first time is due to high numbers of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach.
In its last count, city officials estimated numbers at more than 1800 people. More details on the shelter are expected to be released but the shelter will include 80 beds and will look to open in the next few weeks.
ISABEL SILAGY – As I’m sure you all know, natural gas bills were extremely expensive this winter, like extremely expensive. But there may be some good news on the horizon for us Californians.
The California Public Utilities Commission is considering applying California Climate credits to utility bills rather than waiting until spring to do so. These credits for natural gas usually appear on utility bills around April but could appear sooner if the Utilities Commission follows through with this plan.
The credit amount you could receive would vary depending on who your utility provider is, but you could receive anywhere between a $90 and $100 credit.
Per KTLA natural gas bills cost two and three times more than what they did back in January of last year. You can blame the high costs on the below normal temperatures we have been experiencing California this winter, decreased natural gas imports and gas pipeline issues across the US. All that to say, please give us these credits California.
KAITLYN ROWELL: California has been rocked in the last week by mass shootings. Three separate mass shootings took place across the state within a three day span in Oakland, Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. The mass shootings collectively resulted in numerous deaths and casualties, with the Half Moon Bay shooting being the deadliest attack since the shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas last year. The shooting has truly shocked California, a state with some of the strictest firearm laws and lowest gun deaths rates in the US.
ISABEL SILAGY – US Representative Adam Schiff has announced his bid for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat in 2024. Feinstein is retiring and leaving the seat up for grabs, which has caused quite a frenzy amongst California Democrats.
Schiff is the third major Democrat in California to announce his candidacy for the Senate race, joining us representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee who are already in the race.
Buckle up y’all because between now and 2024, we are going to be seeing a lot of campaign ads.
KAITLYN ROWELL – In other political news, the US Senate knew Ticketmaster was trouble when they walked in. Ticketmaster tried to shake it off, but it’s clear now that they’ve got bad blood. Was that way too many Taylor Swift puns? Probably, but we’re not sorry.
Okay, but on a serious note now, the US Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing last Tuesday about the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle. For those who don’t know this all started in November when Swift’s Era Tour tickets went on sale online through Ticketmaster. Heavy traffic on the website caused it to crash and countless fans were able to buy tickets. Ticketmaster then canceled the rest of the Swift’s tickets sales to the general public, blaming inventory problems and failure to the website’s bots.
The situation, as you can tell was bad. But now, things have gotten even worse for Ticketmaster, as the Senate is investigating if Ticketmaster itself operates ethically.
In 2013, Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged, creating one of the largest live event companies in the world. This merger has allowed Ticketmaster to squash competition, dominate the industry, seemingly violating anti competition laws, acts as a monopoly and ultimately hurts consumers.
People want to see the company’s broken up and others just want their damn at Taylor Swift tickets. There’s no saying how the Senate investigation will end but this definitely isn’t good for Ticketmaster’s reputation. And I’ll stop now.
ISABEL SILAGY – In more music news, last week, Justin Bieber joined a growing list of prominent artists and musicians who have sold their music catalogs. Bieber sold the rights to his entire 290 song catalog to the UK based company Hipgnosis Song Management for $200 million. This deal means that every time a Justin Bieber song is played on the radio or used in TV show, Hipgnosis will receive a payment.
It’s a little unusual for Bieber to have made this kind of deal because selling entire music catalogs is usually a move reserved for older artists and musicians. Clearly, Bieber thinks he’s better off selling the rights now when they’re highly valued rather than holding on to them, when who knows how much the rights will be worth in the future? Congrats on the payday Biebs.
KAITLYN ROWELL – All right, y’all. It’s that time of the semester again, Week of Welcome time! Come say hi to us, the Daily Forty-Niner staff at Week of Welcome next Tuesday and Wednesday between 11am and 2pm along the central quad of campus. You can come by, chat with us, learn about what we do and if you want to join and of course we’ll have a little treats for y’all. It’ll be a lot of fun, I promise. So come on by!
ISABEL SILAGY – And last but certainly not least, there is a brand new issue of the Daily Forty-Niner on newsstands today! We are very excited to officially publish our Intercultural Special Issue, a collection of stories and pieces that reflect the diversity and inclusivity of people and experiences across our campus and across the Long Beach Community. Don’t miss out, pick up a copy of our issue at any of the newsstands located around campus.
KAITLYN ROWELL – Thank you so much for joining us for season 10 episode two of Beach Weekly. Thank you to our editor Andy Nguyen and our producer Leila Nunez. As always, if you want to read up on some of the stories we covered today, and much more, you can head on over to our website daily49er.com.
To make sure you’re up to date on everything that happens on a Long Beach State campus, be sure to give us a follow on our socials at Daily49er.
ISABEL SILAGY – And remember to pick up a copy of a brand new special issue from a new stand on campus. And hey, why not pick up a copy for a family member, a friend, your roommate or whoever else? You won’t regret it. I guarantee you.
KAITLYN ROWELL – All right. That’s all for us on this episode of Beach Weekly. Meet you back here next Monday!
ISABEL SILAGY – Bye!
(SOUNDBITE OF “SUMMER SOLSTICE ON THE JUNE PLANET” – BAIL BONDS)