KCRW's Which Way, LA?

In the 23 years Which Way, LA? has been on the air, there have been five mayors of Los Angeles: Tom Bradley, Richard Riordan, James Hahn, Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric Garcetti. Each has served at a different moment in a process of continual change.

WWLA? began its 23-year run in the wake of an incident so complex we still haven’t decided what to call it.  The Rodney King 'riots?" The "uprising?" The "civil disturbance?"  As WWLA? winds down, we look back and measuring what’s changed and what hasn’t.  One major component was race relations. Have we learned, as Rodney King famously put it, to “just get along?”  As always, that question has many different answers. 

The first of this year's El Niño storms were only a test, and Southern California is braced for another onslaught of mudslides, potholes, flooded freeways and basements and mountains of trash swept out into the ocean. We get updates and look at what's next. 

The first of this year's El Niño storms were only a test, and Southern California is braced for another onslaught of mudslides, potholes, flooded freeways and basements and mountains of trash swept out into the ocean. We get updates and look at what's next. 

New FAA rules might require you to register your drone before you fly it, and there are several regulations here in California about where these airborne overlords can go. But Sacramento and the FAA aren't exactly on the same page. Guest host Barbara Bogaev tries to make sense of the territorial dispute in the skies.

New FAA rules might require you to register your drone before you fly it, and there are several regulations here in California about where these airborne overlords can go. But Sacramento and the FAA aren't exactly on the same page. Guest host Barbara Bogaev tries to make sense of the territorial dispute in the skies.

The state legislature is in recess now, but come the New Year they'll tackle a raft of big divisive issues, and face-off with Governor Jerry Brown in a new climate of shifting power dynamics. We get a preview of the year ahead and take stock of 2015. 

The state legislature is in recess now, but come the New Year they'll tackle a raft of big divisive issues, and face-off with Governor Jerry Brown in a new climate of shifting power dynamics. We get a preview of the year ahead and take stock of 2015. 

"A new generation of hyper-luxury homes with stratospheric price tags is colonizing the most gilded hillsides and canyons of Los Angeles." That's according to the New York Times, in a series about shell companies that hide the real ownership of such properties--not just from celebrity hounds but local and international law enforcement. We hear about the "Starship Enterprise" and other monstrosities in Bel-Air and around the country.

A medical school with a difference is planned for Southern California by Kaiser, the managed care system that runs hospitals and provides health insurance. The goal is hands-on experience for doctors trained to practice in systems of what's called "coordinated care." With the emphasis on new technology and cutting costs, does a doctor's "bedside manner" still have a future?

A medical school with a difference is planned for Southern California by Kaiser, the managed care system that runs hospitals and provides health insurance. The goal is hands-on experience for doctors trained to practice in systems of what's called "coordinated care." With the emphasis on new technology and cutting costs, does a doctor's "bedside manner" still have a future?

At the Climate Change Summit in Paris, the major players insisted that reductions in greenhouse emissions be voluntary. The City of San Diego has taken a big step further. It has established mandatory deadlines ? enforceable by law ? including 100% renewable energy generation by 2035. Los Angeles and other cities will have to get in line.

Ten years ago, the Port of Los Angeles signed a court-ordered agreement to reduce air pollution at a massive new terminal.But Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told the port director to be "flexible," and she was -- and the new rules were not put into effect. Last year, Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed a new port director to set things right. 

Almost 700,000 students in America's second largest school district were told to stay home today -- when almost 1000 schools were closed because of a terrorist threat deemed "credible" by Superintendent Ramon Cortines.  

The Directors Guild has taken its first official look at Hollywood and found a bastion of discrimination ? especially when it comes to women. In the past two years, 82% of feature films, big and small, were directed by white males ? with women in charge just 6% of the time. We hear about efforts to penetrate legendary secrecy and diversify an industry where choices are notoriously subjective.