Reporter Megan Jamerson:  

Like many SoCal kids, I grew up on a healthy diet of Disney, including occasional visits to the Magic Kingdom in Anaheim. When news broke that the character performers at Disneyland Resort were forming a union, I wanted to understand what was going on. 

As I reported this story, I learned organized labor isn’t new to the parks. Most of its workers already have collective bargaining agreements. And this summer, custodians, cashiers, and candy makers are up against a June 16 deadline to renegotiate the terms of their employment.

When I met with employees — or cast members, as they’re known at the park — they told me they feel like they have leverage to get their demands met. The parks mean a lot to Disney’s bottom line. As one character performer put it, without them, the resort is just an “empty space of plastic and brick and concrete.”

Disneyland characters unionize as company invests in parks

Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort character performers and the hosts that assist them in parades and meet-and-greets recently voted 953 to 258 to join the Actors’ Equity Association. Meanwhile, Disney received the City of Anaheim’s approval this spring to spend $1.9 billion spiffing up and expanding the resort over the next decade. Compared to that figure, the company can afford to take care of the 1,700 cast members that make up the new union, says Actors’ Equity President Kate Shindle: “If these workers got every single thing on their wish list, it would be not even a drop in the bucket.”

The resorts hold a lot of value to the Walt Disney Company. Disney’s Experiences Department — cruises, merchandise, and theme parks — brought in 70% of the company’s operating income in the first quarter, according to the latest earnings report. Workers say the “magic making” they do on the job is a big contributor to this financial success.

“We're seeing that and we're saying, ‘Where's our cut of that?’” says Aaron Zarate, a unionized candy maker. “When are we going to get what we deserve?”

Murder of LA actress led to country’s first anti-stalking laws

The first laws criminalizing stalking in California stemmed from the 1991 trial of Robert Bardo, a high school dropout and loner from Tucson who tracked down and fatally shot 21-year-old actress Rebecca Schaeffer at her West Hollywood apartment. 

Bardo taped every episode of the 1980s sitcom My Sister Sam, in which Rebecca Schaeffer was part of the cast, says Christopher Goffard, Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer for the LA Times who wrote about this case as part of a new series on famous Los Angeles crimes. Bardo, who had a history of mental illness, eventually took a Greyhound bus to LA and showed up with a teddy bear to the Burbank studios where she worked, but security guards escorted him back to his hotel. He paid a private investigator for her home address.

“He says that he appears at her door. Once they have a few words, he goes away, he comes back, he wants to give her a gift. And she callously brushes him off as if she's too busy. … And he says he was provoked by her callousness, and pulls out the gun and shoots,” recalls Goffard. “[Lead prosecutor] Marcia Clark studies the tape as he's recounting this to a psychiatrist, and notices that as he reenacts pulling out the gun, he reaches his hand behind his back and mimics pulling out the gun. So his words are at odds with his physical gesture. And to Marcia Clark, this gives her the element that she needs for first-degree murder lying in wait — because the gun concealed behind the back is the lying-in-wait element. And it's a bench trial, they weigh the jury, and the judge finds him guilty of first-degree murder and sends him away for life.”

Today, Bardo is still serving his sentence at Avenal State Prison in Kings County, California.

‘I don't call anybody mom or dad’: LA foster teens reveal their stories

Possible Selves: Overcoming the Odds in Foster Care follows Alex Ballantyne and Mia Derisso — two high schoolers in foster care who are striving for college. The film highlights the triumphs and tragedies of adolescents transitioning into adulthood while dealing with the aftermath of the foster care system. 

“I was born to drug addicts,” Ballantyne tells KCRW. “When I was four, unfortunately, they could no longer take care of me. I lived with my grandmother until I was about 12, and then went back into foster care. I jumped around placements for a little bit because at the age of 12, a lot of group homes won't take you.”

He adds, “My first foster family went on a vacation one time. I remember the foster dad saying, ‘We can only take you with us if you are family.’ I got placed with another family in Van Nuys for a week while they went on vacation. … All of this is adding on top of the question of: Why doesn't anybody want me? 

It’s led to some pretty tough things I've had to come over in my life. I don't call anybody mom or dad, I don't think I'd ever be able to.”

Let CA beaches tell you their story, amazing things will unfold, says marine biologist

The California coast spans 840 miles and boasts all kinds of flora and fauna, including gooseneck barnacles that resemble miniature geese, water birds with names like bufflehead, and a fluorescent-colored sea slug called Spanish shawl. For decades, marine biologist Patrick Krug has explored the vastly biodiverse state. He’s a professor of biological sciences at Cal State LA and now co-author of Between the Tides in California: Exploring Beaches and Tidepools. The book explains why these creatures live where they do, and offers tips on how you can spot them. 

Plate tectonics and earthquakes have influenced the formation of California’s coastline and the diverse ecosystems along it. “These plates sliding past each other have moved whole islands along the coast really slowly, but also shaped our coastline in ways that are really different from what you would find, say along the East Coast or the Gulf Coast,” Krug tells KCRW. 

California also features multiple biogeographic zones, which have different water temperatures and currents. Much of the area is home to what Krug describes as a super productive ecosystem, where winds move nutrient-rich water from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. 

“That's like fertilizer. It fuels the kelp forests and the plankton that live in the water itself, and that sustains all of the life that we find along the beaches. And it just makes for a hugely diverse and really thriving and productive ecosystem.”

Petal to plate: Unveiling LA’s edible wildflowers

After all the rain, you’ve likely noticed a vibrant palette of wildflowers as part of LA’s landscape. Beyond their breathtaking beauty, many of our native (and non-native) wildflowers are surprisingly edible. 

The state flower, the California poppy, is surprisingly packed with proteins and essential amino acids. Other SoCal plant species you can eat include lupine, Mariposa lily, sticky monkey flower, wild blue flax, yarrow, chia, coyote mint, chuparosa, borage, black mustard, wild radish, and nasturtium. In fact, humans have spent centuries using these blossoms in oils, salad dressings, schmears, flours, and hummus.

Calling all KCRW Members!

We want to send you to Aquarium of the Pacific's first-ever Bio Ball, taking place on World Ocean Day — Saturday, June 8th. You'll enjoy live music, dancing, a film premiere, complimentary beer & wine, animal encounters, and more! The first member to reply to this email with their favorite marine animal will receive a pair of tickets care of KCRW. 

Not a KCRW member? Join today so you never miss out on exclusives like this.