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Ina Jaffe

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Ina Jaffe is a National desk correspondent based at NPR West, NPR's production center in Culver City, Calif.

Covering California and the West, Jaffe has reported on nearly all of the major news events, elections, and natural disasters in the region. Currently, she covers issues related to aging. She also reports on regional and national politics, contributing election coverage in 2008, 2010, and 2012.

In addition to captivating and informing listeners, Jaffe's reports have garnered critical acclaim. In 2012, her series on rising violence in California State Psychiatric Hospitals was honored with a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media as well as awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors and the American Bar Association. Her three-part series on California's Three Strikes sentencing law won the ABA's Silver Gavel Award in 2010, as well as the Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists. For her coverage of California politics, Jaffe received two California Journalism Awards for reporting on minority political power in Los Angeles and the historic recall election that made Arnold Schwarzenegger governor.

Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon which made its debut in 1985. As Weekend Edition Saturday editor, Jaffe shared a 1988 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for the report "A State of Emergency" which covered racial conflict in Philadelphia.

Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and DePaul University receiving Bachelor's and Master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.

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It's All Politics
3:37 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

Underdog Democrat Is Keeping Things Close In Nevada Senate Race

Credit Julie Jacobson / AP
Democatic Rep. Shelley Berkley greets Republican Sen. Dean Heller before the second of their three debates, on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas.
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Originally published on Thu October 18, 2012 8:00 pm

Early in-person voting in Nevada starts Saturday, and it's not just the presidential contest that's being closely watched in this swing state.

The race for the U.S. Senate is also seen as a tossup, a bit of a surprise for Republicans, who have counted on retaining the GOP-held seat as they try to build a majority.

Republican Sen. Dean Heller — in office for only 18 months — faces seven-term Rep. Shelley Berkley on Nov. 6.

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Presidential Race
7:21 am
Sat September 22, 2012

Obama, Ryan Pitch Medicare Plans To Older Voters

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Originally published on Sat September 22, 2012 10:35 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Both campaigns tried to appeal to older voters yesterday. President Obama and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan addressed thousands of members of the AARP in New Orleans. Changes to Medicare and Social Security topped the agenda for both, but NPR's Ina Jaffee reports, there was more to these voters reactions to the candidates.

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Around the Nation
3:28 am
Mon September 10, 2012

Los Angeles VA Has Made Millions On Rental Deals

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
The 388-acre campus of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Los Angeles was donated to the federal government more than 100 years ago for use as a home for disabled veterans, but is no longer used for that purpose. In 2007, Building 209, pictured here, was designated as a place to house disabled homeless vets. It is currently abandoned.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
An empty room is seen inside Building 209. Although the building is supposed to house disabled vets, it is currently vacant and uninhabitable.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
Building 205, pictured here, sits vacant. It was designated as future housing for disabled homeless veterans in 2007.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
The campus has more than a dozen long-term rental deals with various enterprises, most of which don't serve veterans. There's a private baseball stadium, storage for film sets and a laundry for Marriott Hotels. Meanwhile, other buildings sit abandoned.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
Building 208 (left) and Building 209 are seen on the VA campus. In 2010, the VA budgeted $20 million to renovate 209, but work hasn't started.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
The chapel on campus is abandoned and deteriorating. The 1900s-era building is a rare early-American, multidenominational site. It holds one chapel for Protestants and another for Catholics. The J. Paul Getty Museum provided a $75,000 grant in 2000 to support conservation planning, but no work has yet been done on the building.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
R.W. Williams, 63, a Vietnam veteran, has been seeking medical treatment for a host of ailments, including PTSD, at the VA health center in Los Angeles. He is seen here on the campus near a mural honoring soldiers.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
Conly Mims, 59, a Marine Corps veteran, is seen in the old trolley building. Mims participates in the Salvation Army Haven Program, which caters to veterans struggling with a variety of complex problems such as a shortage of housing and chronic medical issues.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
The Old Soldiers Home in Los Angeles is seen in this photo from 1892. The land was donated to the VA by landholder Arcadia Bandini de Baker in 1887, who specified that it should be used to house wounded veterans.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
Arcadia Bandini de Baker donated the West Los Angeles property more than 100 years ago to the federal government.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
"Barracks Buildings and Park" are seen in this vintage postcard from the Old Soldiers Home.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
The chapel, seen circa 1900, was used for religious services, weddings, substance abuse counseling and funeral rites by both veterans and members of the local community until a 1971 earthquake made the building unsafe for use. It is currently deteriorating, although the VA hopes to save it.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
The Band Stand and Memorial Hall, circa 1900.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
Markham Hall, circa 1900.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
The dining hall, circa 1900.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
Barracks Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
Campus headquarters, 1935.
Credit Courtesy of Carolina Barrie
An image of attendants, circa 1949.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
The campus of the VA Medical Center in West Los Angeles was donated to the federal government more than 100 years ago for use as a home for wounded veterans. Building 209, pictured here, was designated as a place to house disabled homeless vets in 2007, but the VA has yet to start renovations.
Credit Nancy Pastor for NPR
Carolina Winston Barrie is the great-great niece of Arcadia Bandini de Baker, who donated the land for the Los Angeles VA campus in 1887. Winston Barrie spent years trying to get the VA to maintain the intent of the gift. Instead, parts of the property have been leased to various commercial enterprises.
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Originally published on Mon September 10, 2012 7:59 pm

Most Los Angeles residents only know the Veterans Affairs medical center in West Los Angeles as something they glimpse from their cars when they're on traffic-choked Wilshire Boulevard. From the road it looks like a park, but within the grounds is the largest medical facility in the VA's health care system.

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Around the Nation
6:27 am
Sun April 29, 2012

After L.A. Riots, An Effort To Rebuild A Broken City

Credit Paul Sakuma / AP
A fire burns out of control at the corner of 67th St. and West Blvd. in South Central Los Angeles on April 30, 1992. Hundreds of buildings burned when riots erupted after the verdicts in the Rodney King case were announced.
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Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 12:33 pm

The Los Angeles riots began 20 years ago Sunday, when a jury acquitted four police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1992.

While the ashes were still smoldering, then-Mayor Tom Bradley announced a new organization that would repair the shattered city, Rebuild L.A. Its mission was to spend five years harnessing the power of the private sector to replace and improve on what was lost. While it created a lot of hope, it created even more disappointment.

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Violence At California's Psychiatric Hospitals
12:01 am
Wed December 21, 2011

How Do You Hold Mentally Ill Offenders Accountable?

Credit Reed Saxon / AP
In California, prison inmates who have committed serious crimes and have been diagnosed with a major mental illness can be forced to serve their parole in a state hospital. At Atascadero State Hospital, shown above in this 1999 photo, there are more than 600 such patients. "As a group," says the hospital's director, "the mentally disordered offenders are the most aggressive."
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Originally published on Wed December 21, 2011 10:35 am

Part of an ongoing series

Mental health and law enforcement officials in California are trying to find ways to hold violent psychiatric patients accountable without punishing people for being sick. It's a response to escalating violence in the state's mental hospitals, where thousands of assaults occur annually. Only a tiny fraction of them, however, result in criminal charges.

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Violence At California's Psychiatric Hospitals
12:01 am
Tue December 20, 2011

In Calif. Mental Hospitals, Assaults Rarely A Crime

Credit Nick Ut / AP
Metropolitan State Hospital employees and supporters gathered outside the hospital in Norwalk, Calif., this summer to protest repeated assaults at the hands of mental patients, and what they called dangerous working conditions.
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Originally published on Wed December 21, 2011 2:16 pm

Part of an ongoing series

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Election 2012
4:17 pm
Thu December 1, 2011

GOP Candidates Step Up Attacks On Each Other

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
From left, GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney participate in the Fox News/Google GOP debate at the Orange County Convention Center in September. Since then, the candidates have gotten tougher on each other.
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Originally published on Thu December 1, 2011 7:02 pm

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Politics
5:13 pm
Thu November 3, 2011

An Inside Look At The 'Dark Art' Of Politics

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain wipes his brow during a discussion on health care Wednesday in Washington. The former head of the National Restaurant Association has been under fire in recent days over sexual harassment allegations and his response to them.
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No one seems to be talking about Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan this week — including Herman Cain. Instead, he's had to deal with allegations that he committed sexual harassment when he was head of the National Restaurant Association.

On Wednesday night, he accused Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign of planting the story. Perry's campaign flatly denied it, and Cain has backed off.

Regardless, some political consultants have seen the invisible hand of opposition research during this campaign season — what's known as the "dark art of politics."

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Election 2012
4:00 am
Wed October 19, 2011

Gloves Come Off At GOP Debate In Las Vegas

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In Las Vegas, Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate was arguably the hottest show on the Strip.

It was supposed to be a test for businessman Herman Cain, who has gone from nowheresville to competing for the title of front-runner. But Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose debates and poll numbers have been lackluckster, showed a combative side that had been missing up until now.

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