Lakeside Father Mourns Son Killed In Sri Lanka Attack, Preserving Indigenous History, Guatemalan Singer Headlines Adams Ave. Unplugged

Speaker 1: 00:01 A local man shares the story of his son who died in Sri Lanka and how healthy is the air we breathe in San Diego. I'm mark Sauer in for Maureen Cabinet. This is KPBS. It's Thursday, April 25th 11 year old Kiran shift, Fritz destroy. Sam had just been to spring break in lake where's father lives? A week later he became one of the victims of the bombings in Sri Lanka. More than 350 people were killed when suicide bombers struck three churches and three hotels Easter morning and one of the world's deadliest terrorist attacks in recent years. Joining me to discuss his son Kieren is Alexander Arrow. Thank you for joining us, Alexander. Speaker 2: 00:54 Thanks for having me on and telling your own story. Speaker 1: 00:57 First, let me start by saying I am so sorry for your loss. Speaker 2: 01:00 I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: 01:03 During what is an extremely difficult time you've chosen to do interviews like this one. Why is that? Speaker 2: 01:09 I feel like this is the time when people are paying attention to Karen's story and you know, next week this will be swept by the next news. The next tragedy in the world. And Karen was going to be a famous neuroscientist now that he's, he's uh, had, that career has, has been cut short. It feels like the right thing to do to tell his story to everyone just so that the world knows what, who he was and what he was going to contribute. And I um, I feel like I can't stop talking about him. He was such an amazing person and he was going to contribute so much to this world and I um, I want everyone to know that. Speaker 1: 01:52 And where was cure and when he passed away, Speaker 2: 01:55 he was in the restaurant of the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, one of the three hotels that the suicide bomber is targeted on Sunday morning. Speaker 1: 02:06 And you just been texting with him, is that right? Speaker 2: 02:09 Ah, right. So you know, my Saturday night, his Sunday morning, 8:00 PM my time, 8:00 AM his time because he's exactly on the other side of the world. I just called him and he couldn't pick up and he texted me back, can't talk now. He was in the elevator at that time. Coming down to, uh, to have breakfast with and he was with his, his mom and his maternal grandma. Speaker 1: 02:29 And how did you first find out that your son was one of the victims and the bombings? Speaker 2: 02:34 Well, I have found out by a phone call, uh, just, you know, shortly after that text message, while he was in the elevator, I was at home and I had just made a dinner for my girlfriend's daughter. We'd put her to bed and we were just having a normal evening and the phone rang. We didn't, I didn't pick it up because you know, Saturday night you don't normally pick up the phone when you're making dinner and doing another thing. So shortly after that, uh, my, my neighbor came and knocked on the door because that's what I heard, that there had been a bomb explosion in Sri Lanka and the Karen had been hurt and I needed to call them right away. So, um, that's how I first found out. Speaker 1: 03:10 I can't imagine what was going through your mind at the time. Speaker 2: 03:13 Hi. Yeah, this is as big a shock as it is anyone can ever have. I remember the, you know, the conversations on the phone right after that and about the immediate ticket to Sri Lanka and the shouting for details and what exactly had happened to him. And, and then it was on the phone with the doctors. And as these details started to become clear, it was like time was kind of slowing down. You know, that sensation you have when something so drastic is happening to you that it just seems like every moment is stretching out. But you know, like you said, the reason I'm talking about him is because of the, the world should know about who he was going to be, what he had accomplished at the age of 11 and a half, which is to be a wonderful person, already has friends and, and everyone who met him, he was a top of his class, had both of his schools and he's very determined he was going to help people and he was going to have a career helping people contributing to, uh, to medicine. Speaker 1: 04:10 And, and what was he doing in Sri Lanka? Speaker 2: 04:12 Well, uh, you know, his mother wanted to give him a lot of international exposure. She's very worldly, well traveled person and she had bestowed that upon him and she, she had taken him to five continents by the time he was 11. You know, most kids learn about the great museums of the world from here, their parents or other adults. But I was learning about that from him. Uh, you know, he would go on all these trips and, and educate me and he's, he's heritage is half the Sri Lankan. His, his mother's family is all from Chicago. She, she's an American, but her parents are from Sri Lanka. And so I thought it was a reasonable thing when she suggested he should, he should be exposed and doing a semester abroad would be a good thing. Usually you don't do a semester abroad until you're in college, but you know, in fifth grade, at age 10, he was doing a semester abroad and he was thriving there. He was doing wonderfully. If that school, she was top of his class there and uh, he was, he was studying mandarin and Sinhala. Uh, so I was really happy with that. She was, he was doing so well and he wanted to do another semester. So it was going really well. I mean it's, it was, it seemed like it was a good idea. Speaker 1: 05:17 Right. And your son had just visited you at your home in lake side. What did the two of you do during those two weeks? Speaker 2: 05:23 We had wonderful two weeks. It was his spring break and we went on our Niagen how all of our outdoor activities we did hiking. We didn't, uh, kayaking on Lake Santa Santa Fe, which she loved. We did a lot of board games or were very into board games. And, um, you know, he, he would, uh, he was so disciplined that he would interrupt the fun times and the board games to say, I've got to study my mandarin, you know, and yeah, he enlisted the help of [inaudible] brother, his uncle. And I didn't help him with flash cards for his Mandarin. And I mean, what kid says, we have to stop playing this one game because I need to study my manger. Speaker 1: 06:00 And I mean, you know, as you, you mentioned, you know, he had plans to work on curing diseases like Alzheimer's. Uh, how did he decide that that's what he wanted to do? Speaker 2: 06:09 He was motivated by helping people. That was what kind of guided him. It was amazing that he was, he was that insightful and altruistic and that his age, but you know, he, he would help other kids in little ways. He was always stopping and explaining things to other kids. And, um, when we learned a new game, I would usually read the instruction book and describe the rules to him. And then before I knew it, he was reciting those rules to the another kid. So he was guided by a sense of wanting to help others. And you know, earlier in his childhood he wanted to be a paleontologist, um, journalists whose one of his ambitions are Leon. But, uh, in the last year and a half, two years, he decided that the way he could make the biggest difference in the world. This was neuroscience. And you know, he's absolutely right. I mean, you know, in all of medicine, neuroscience is the area where we have the most work to do. We have the most completely mysterious pathology in the brain versus any other part of the body. So it really is that for someone who's can do anything, it has all these talents, it is the best career in my opinion, to have. And I told him that and I hoped that he was going to stick with it and I'm sure I'm sure that he would have. Speaker 1: 07:13 Well, I, you know, I am so sorry for your loss, but I know that, uh, he certainly lives on through the inspiring stories that you share of him with uh, everyone. Uh, do you have any plans to travel to Sri Lanka? Speaker 2: 07:26 Um, I'll eventually want to go there just to see them. It's a place where it happened and for a sense of closure, but right now his, his mom's coming back with him and, and uh, we'll probably have services, uh, next week in Washington DC. Speaker 1: 07:42 I've been speaking to Alexander Arrow, the father of 11 year old Kiran shoe. Fritz destroy sir, one of the victims of the bombings in Sri Lanka. Alexander, thank you for sharing your story. Speaker 2: 07:53 Thank you for helping us remember Karen. Speaker 3: 08:05 Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1: 08:24 We turn now to the 2020 presidential election. Former vice president Joe Biden joined the race this morning. Kq Ed senior politics editor. Scott Schafer takes a look at Biden strengths and weaknesses and California at age 76 Biden is joining a democratic feel that includes candidates half his age as well as several women and people of color, including California's own senator, Kamala Harris. Speaker 4: 08:49 When Joe Biden gets into the race, I think his first day will probably be his best day in this race. Speaker 1: 08:55 That's California campaign Speaker 5: 08:56 consultant Katie Merrill, who isn't working for any of the candidates. She says running for president in 2020 requires using social media to reach small donors. Speaker 4: 09:05 That means having cultivated email lists with hundreds of thousands of people on those lists and the Biden campaign just doesn't have that kind of infrastructure. Speaker 5: 09:18 What Biden does have, according to Carl Guardino of the Silicon Valley leadership group, is a deep reservoir of goodwill and a solid understanding of it. Speaker 6: 09:26 Key issues like immigration and trade and terrorists. There were just so many issues that we knew. Not only was he hearing us that that he was championing the innovation economy on core issues. Speaker 5: 09:41 Some party activists like Amy Alison of Oakland based democracy in color say it will be a mistake to nominate someone who's focused on winning back white working class voters. She notes the Democrats wins and the recent midterms were fueled by women of color as candidates and voters. Speaker 7: 09:57 They will do so in 2020 but they have to embrace a agenda and candidates who are about a racial, economic and social justice. Speaker 5: 10:06 One other thing, Biden does have deep ties to organized labor in the state, but he's not alone. So two senators, Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and unions are in no hurry tobacco. Any one candidate this far out? Speaker 7: 10:20 That was Kq ed, senior politics editor, Scott Schafer reporting. Speaker 8: 10:30 Okay. Speaker 9: 10:32 Once again, San Diego has been found to have some of the most polluted air in the nation. Our number of unhealthy air days is on the rise. The most distressing news centers on ozone pollution, which is getting worse as our climate warms. As part of our coverage from the KPBS climate change desk, we're examining the annual iReport report, newly released from the American Lung Association joining me as Deborah Kelley, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in California. Deborah, welcome. Thank you, mark. We'll start with the key findings. How bad is our air in the San Diego region? Speaker 7: 11:07 So unfortunately, once again, we've made the list of the top 10 cities with the worst air quality in the United States and that's mainly because of our ozone and so we are actually number six on that list. The report really is a combination of good news and bad news for San Diegans. There's good news about our particulate matter. We got a B grade this year, which is our best grade ever, but it's really bad news for ozone levels because over the past five years our ozone has increased by 42% Speaker 9: 11:40 and explain that. What are the main Crawford as we say? Is Ozone a? What is it? Why is it so harmful? Speaker 7: 11:46 Ozone is dangerous because it's a toxic chemical that can burn our lungs. In fact, the analogy that we use at the lung association, that ozone damages the lungs in our bodies in a very similar way to sunshine damaging our skin. So longterm exposures even to relatively low levels of ozone have a cumulative impact and they can, you know, that exposure can permanently damage the lungs and and create other issues with the heart as well. Because of this, the lung association has very strict health based standards on, you know, what we consider the safe level of exposure to ozone. People probably also need to understand that ozone is kind of a, a soup that's cooked. And so one big ingredient is what we call volatile organic compounds. And those are things that you, you know, if you're barbecuing, you smell that and you use lighter fluid. Speaker 7: 12:43 Certainly anytime any of us put gas in our cars, volatile organic compounds are being released in the atmosphere. Then when we get into our cars start to drive, we have another substance called Knox, which comes out of our tailpipes. And so what happens is these, these two compounds getting, get into our air and they are literally cooked by the heat in our atmosphere. And so the higher the heat, the worst, the heat, the worst the ozone becomes. And the more health issues that we see, our air quality of course becomes worse. And unfortunately there is, uh, a cycle which actually worsens climate change. And so, you know, when we see this huge increase in ozone levels in San Diego, we have to ask why. Speaker 9: 13:35 And that goes to the, uh, the, the point I made at the outset, which is climate change is it is making our air quality worse. And of course, we had a number of a, a very warm days last year when the study period was, it was looking at it. Speaker 7: 13:47 Yeah, that's, that's correct. So the way the, the report works without getting too technical as we take a rolling three year average of all these levels so that a spike in one year doesn't overly impact the overall grade. But this past reporting period has included three of the hottest summers in California. And so that's really, that's why we're seeing so much ozone. The hotter it is, the more ozone we see, the worst are Eric gets. Speaker 9: 14:15 So we're doing a little bit better as you noted with short term particle pollution. But explain that finding and what that actually is. Speaker 7: 14:22 Particle pollution is actually extremely dangerous, can be very deadly. These all defined part of calls get into the lungs. Um, they can cause lung cancer. They're small enough to get into the bloodstream. If you have heart disease or diabetes, you are especially vulnerable to having a heart attack and a Polish an episode because these particles are setting up inflammation in your bloodstream and your heart and they can even cause strokes. Another thing that people don't understand is that these particles can affect the brain. And so recent studies have shown that women who are and polluted air tend to have a higher risk of having autistic children. And people who live near freeways have a higher risk of Alzheimer's and said these brain effects are kind of new science, but they should be very concerning to everyone. Yeah. Speaker 9: 15:14 So the number of deaths is on the rise as the, uh, as the report notes and California has some in the nation, strictest air pollution laws. Does this report show that they just aren't working? Speaker 7: 15:25 No, I would say it's the opposite. When you look at the overall trends, you can see huge declines in both ozone and a particle pollution here in San Diego and up and down California. We wouldn't have had those huge declines without our strict laws here in California. But unfortunately, you know, the impacts of climate change are starting to overwhelm the impact of our laws. I mean we have cleaner air, we're driving cleaner cars, we have more access to zero emission vehicles. But you know, we're doing a lot. But these climate change impacts are a little bit of a tidal wave and it's hard to fight back. Speaker 9: 16:03 And what are some of the important steps we can take to improve our air quality as a, as it goes down to the future? I mean it's all comes down to cutting fossil fuel emissions, does it? No. Speaker 7: 16:13 Yeah, it really does. And so you know, the biggest, the biggest culprit is really our transportation sector and that means the cars we drive, the trucks, the buses, we take um, planes, boats and so forth. Together they account for 90% of our air quality issues. They also account for about 50% of our greenhouse gas emissions. So as individuals, if we can drive less, if we can start switching to zero emission vehicles and you know, if we can use less energy in our homes, all of that is, is going to help a lot. But we also have to work with our elected officials and our society in general to ensure that California's efforts are not diluted by the federal government. There is so much happening at the federal level to undercut what we have done to protect Californians that the American Lung Association, we spend much most of our time at the federal level just defending what we already have. Speaker 9: 17:09 Are you hopeful now that the election season is honest that we might have a meaningful debate finally on climate change and on pollution and emissions from fossil fuels in this upcoming election here? Speaker 7: 17:23 I would like to think so. One, one of the things that we know is that San Diegans do accept that climate change is real and they largely, except that it's manmade. And that's partly because here in California, here in San Diego, we've experienced the effects of climate change. I live in Scripps Ranch, I've been evacuated twice from my home on the fact that we haven't had a huge wildfire in San Diego is a matter of luck and at that could at any CSUN. And so we're lucky that we have an educated populace here, but we are, you know, we are fighting the uh, climate change denial industry that operates in very similar way to the way the tobacco industry denied everything. In fact, if you trace the reds, you can actually see there's some of the same people and some of the same organizations are involved. And so unfortunately the big fossil fuel players are actively trying to undercut the climate change argument or trying to question the science. And they're doing all of that really to protect their profits. And we are doing what we're doing to protect people. Speaker 10: 18:30 Well. We'll see how this all shapes up as the debate start in June, I've been speaking with Deborah Kelley of the American Lung Association. Thanks Debra. Thank you, mark. It's been a pleasure. This is KPBS mid day edition. I'm mark Sauer. Speaker 1: 18:52 Andy, I'm jade Hindman. Then social security checks, little retirement savings and a lack of affordable housing are forcing some California seniors onto the streets in San Diego County. The number of unsheltered people between the ages of 55 and 74 rose 6% last year as part of our series grain. California KPBS is Amica Sharma spent the day with a 71 year old man who lives on San Diego sidewalks. Speaker 3: 19:23 Yeah, Speaker 11: 19:24 Carl Russell wakes up at 5:00 AM he slept on the sidewalk sitting up against San Diego senior wellness center. Speaker 12: 19:32 The concrete is hard and you can't get comfortable when it's raining and your clothes are wet and you got dog walking up and down beside you and strange people. Speaker 11: 19:42 Justin jeans, a blue windbreaker over an orange sweatshirt. He says he's still tired. I can't sleep solid because I didn't want to get my throat cut. I lost a friend out here who got stabbed to death. Carl points to his wooden cane. His only defense, he calls it his first big challenge of the day is finding a spot, trying to do the number two. So he walks eight blocks through other homeless encampments to a nearby Deli. Speaker 12: 20:10 Sammy, Speaker 11: 20:11 hello. This is a nice guy. He feeds me. It gives me a cup of coffee. Let me put it a lot. Even when I got a dollar, Carl seems to know everybody here. He spent some time saying hello and then walks back to the senior center for a shower and food. After that, he gets on a bus because my two 15 I go to sleep. Carl has been homeless for more than three years now. He stole the rotisserie chicken from Vaughn's a while back because he was hungry. Speaker 12: 20:45 I can't see no goal at the end of the rainbow across this. This is getting harder and harder and I'm getting older and older. Speaker 11: 20:52 He says friends, other homeless seniors have killed themselves. Speaker 12: 20:56 Charlie committed suicide. It hurt me so bad. I had tears the first time you tried to commit suicide. I talked to him out of it. They call nine one one. Speaker 11: 21:06 Carl keeps looking for a place to live, but affordable housing options in California for relatively healthy homeless seniors are few and regular housing is way beyond reach. He gets $800 a month from social security. The new apartments being built around him in San Diego, Costa, triple or quadruple that amount. Speaker 12: 21:26 Can you get a job in that work anymore with two knees replaced? Two hips is almost impossible. And who's going to give you a job? Speaker 11: 21:33 He's working with a pro bono lawyer to try to convince the teamsters union. He's entitled to a pension from his truck driving days. In the meantime, he prays and hopes, but on this date dejection got the better of him. Speaker 12: 21:47 Society doesn't care about the singers like we have worked most of our lives and this is our reward to be homeless and on the street Speaker 11: 21:56 in San Diego. I'm Sharma and the story is from our California dream collaboration. Find out more about our series at grain, california.org and joining me now is KPBS investigative reporter. I'm the Sharma welcoming Meetha. Thank you. It's good to be here. The last thing we heard in your story was Carl Russell saying society doesn't care about seniors. We've worked most of our lives and this is our reward to be homeless and on the street. Uh, what's changed between his generation and the generation before his in terms of how this country takes care of its aging population. Two major changes, lack of affordable housing. And the way we fund retirement has changed in the United States. Retirement used to be thought of as a three legged stool, one leg, a company pension, another leg, social security, a third lake, your own form of some type of retirement savings. But fast forward to today and what you are finding is that company pensions have gone away and a lot of people in California are having an extremely tough time socking away money for retirement because of the high cost of housing. Speaker 11: 23:12 More than half of California renters are spending over a third of their income on housing. Another third are spending more than half. So as you can, well imagine, that leaves very little money for food, for gas, for utilities, much less retirements. And so what you are left with is a lot of people relying on living on social security and that is not enough. And there are a lot of car Russell's out there. How many seniors are facing homelessness in San Diego? Last year in San Diego county, there were around 1700 homeless people between the ages of 55 and 74 and I want to mention Los Angeles County because what has been seen there is really dramatic. So overall homelessness in La County has gone down, but senior homelessness shot up 22% now we did see a rise at 6% in San Diego County last year. You're seeing similar increases in major counties across the state. Sacramento, Canty, San Francisco County, San Bernardino County as well. Speaker 11: 24:25 And we hear about how San Diego is America's finest city, if this is the best America has to offer. What is it like to age and other parts of the country? Our seniors facing homelessness at a higher rate and other places, I can't say whether they're facing homelessness at a higher rate and other places, but what I can say is this trend of senior homelessness is not unique to California. According to the Department of Housing and urban development statistics, there was a 48% increase in senior homeless in the United States between 2007 and 2016. According to the Homelessness Research Institute, the population is senior homelessness population is expected to double by 2050 in the United States reaching 95,000 people. In your story, Carl Talks about how he sleeps with caution to avoid getting his throat cut. Um, we hear all the time that San Diego is one of America's safest to cities, but, um, is that the reality if you're homeless or especially if you're a senior and you're homeless? Speaker 11: 25:34 No, that's not the reality. People who live on the streets are under constant threats of violence. Whether that's passers by, you know, kicking, sleeping, homeless people in the head, uh, or throwing rocks at them, or whether homeless seniors are being attacked by other homeless people. In any case, it is not safe for them or really anyone else who's homeless. Living on the street. And your profile of Carl is part of a statewide series called Grain California. Can you tell me about some of the other issues that will be talked about? There are a whole host of issues. It's an 11 parts series that profiles seniors who are aging in California. So through them we learn what it's like to hold down a job, what it's like to look for a job, what it's like to look for transportation, what it's like to live out your dream, pursue another dream in these years, in these golden years. Speaker 11: 26:36 Um, the fact of the matter is is that California is getting older, seniors are growing at a faster rate than any other age group in the state. And it's estimated that there will be 9 million California seniors by 2030 and that is going to affect every aspect of life here, whether it's healthcare, housing, or transportation, and a whole other array of issues. And from what you've observed in your reporting on this, are there any systems in place that could work to assist seniors who are facing homelessness today? You know, Jay, the bottom line in this discussion is there has to be more affordable housing for seniors. There has to be more affordable housing for all Californians, but especially for seniors. Outside of that there are groups like serving seniors in San Diego that do what they can to make life a little bit easier for seniors who are living outside. Um, they do that by providing them a place to take a shower and giving them meals. Hot Meals, seven days a week. I've been speaking with KPBS is Amica Sharma Amita. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 11: 27:57 As San Diego celebrates 250 years since its establishment, we are telling the story of the people who were living here and thriving here in the region for thousands of years before Europeans arrived and decided this is where California begins. San Diego was already home to the Kumi I, their history is embedded in much of the county centered around America's finest city. Joining me to tell the story of the [inaudible] is Ethan Banana's a member of the Berona Band of mission Indians and instructor of Kumi I history at the Kumiai community college. Ethan, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me. So what was life like for the Kumi I before 1542 when Juan Cabrio first made contact with the [inaudible] people Speaker 13: 28:39 physically, we were very healthy. We had a wonderful ecosystem that we were very, very aware of how to manipulate the environment, manage our resources. We would go from the desert to the ocean to the mountains and gather a very large variety of berries, strawberries from types of fish. We ate lobster, shrimp, a seaweed. So we had this, you know, the main staple to as acorns, but it wasn't our all we ate, we had a very, very, very large variety of foods. And A, we also walked a lot. We had a very, um, active lifestyle. So, you know, if you, if you compare that with today, things are very different than today in most people don't realize, uh, how, I guess healthy. We were prior to the Spanish and the American, uh, uh, incursion and changing of our lifestyles. We also had a very active and vibrant religion. So we had a, an eagle ceremony, a corrupt ceremony. We had a fire ceremony. You, so we had a very rich sir, a ceremonial life and a religious life. So we had a lot prior to Spanish encouraging. That was basically a very holistic, beautiful life. And it was very a communal oriented. Uh, it wasn't a capitalistic society. So we, we took care of each other in a, in a much different way than many people realize today. Speaker 1: 30:15 How were Europeans received by the community? When they showed up on land? Speaker 13: 30:19 We, we greeted the, and actually saved the lives of the, of the early Spanish and they were basically starving. They didn't have water, they were had scurvy and we took him to our watering hole and cause soy in old town. So there was a, you know, I kind of call it a Thanksgiving in a way for our people. And the fact that there was this mutual reception, maybe it wasn't mutual, but we were very giving initially, which kind of goes on, you know, gives evidence to who we were to our own people and just strangers. Speaker 1: 30:52 Tell me about the ancestral land the Kumeyaay were forced off of and what that land is today. Speaker 13: 30:58 Uh, we had this vast environment that was really a healthy environment for us physically, emotionally, spiritually. So how's our land got taken away? Slowly but surely, we will lose these vibrant food sources in that were only available in specific areas. So it was very, um, I basically took away who we were as a people. As you take away our pieces of land, cause the land made us, so as you take away that land, you could take away our very identity, our, our diet and so on and so forth. Speaker 1: 31:30 And you know, the Qbi were known as some of the best and earliest environmental managers in North America. Um, even many of the agricultural and land management techniques like controlled burns, uh, were something the Kumi I were doing. Tell me about some of the contributions handed down. Uh, over the years, Speaker 13: 31:48 we knew exactly when and where and how to burn. So you wouldn't have a cedar and a which fire. We would control the animal population by controlled burns. So when you burn the, um, the environment, the small grass is start to grow afterwards and then that would create more deer and more animals to hunt. So it was a way to also manipulate like an animal husbandry in a way. And the other thing was obviously for, for safety and also to manipulate the, the certain plants like pine trees would only grow if they were burned. So it was, uh, a lot of reasons to, to burn. Speaker 1: 32:25 And what's such a rich history and so many contributions to San Diego. Do you think Cumbia history is taught enough and included in school books that are used to teach about San Diego's history? Speaker 13: 32:37 So a little about our history is you have to understand, first of all, we, we did not have a written history until the sixties or seventies, meaning that nearly all of our knowledge and isn't our elders and an oral history. So, unfortunately no one aside from a couple people, Florence, IPEC and um, Richard Kericho on very few of our, uh, our [inaudible] people have actually done this work. So it's very, um, it's very sparse in a way. So what we're trying to do right now is to compile a database and source material so you can actually have a, my history class. So it's almost impossible with the sources we have. So we need to as a, as a nation, create the data and the source material for cooling. I history as we celebrate a milestone of 250 years of San Diego. What is the biggest concern for the [inaudible] people that you have? Speaker 13: 33:36 Just my personal opinion about the 250 years is it's kind of a non issue for us. It kind of doesn't really, no one, no one talks about it in our community because it doesn't really matter to us. It's almost apathetic about it. No, you know, are ambivalent. We don't know. We don't care either way, good or bad. And I think a lot of that is because we have our own issues, our own urgent issues. Like what I'm saying? Um, so along with this is our language. So there's only 38 speakers left. So within our generation we're going to have maybe a single digit speakers in the same generation or history is going to almost be gone. So these are our issues right now. And then the other thing would be to, I would, I would see as our religion. So our religion is not in a growing state either. These, these three issues supersede those other ones. I would say. I've been speaking with Ethan Banega, it's member of the Borana Band of mission Indians and instructor of Kumeyaay history at the [inaudible] community college. Ethan, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Speaker 10: 34:45 Imagine you're skiing down the craggy slopes above Lake Tahoe, navigating turns, dodging trees and doing it all without being able to see the achieved Tahoe program at the Alpine meadows resort helps skiers with a range of disabilities with all the snow this year. The program is welcome new and seasoned skiers from all over the state report. Her, Sam Arnett met up with a few of them after a recent dump of fresh powder Speaker 14: 35:13 closer, um, almost money or do we need to let a little bit more air out? Speaker 15: 35:20 Ryan? Breadth or big is helping Julie's Shrem adjust his leg prosthetic. It's designed for skiing, but it had a little too much air pressure in it the last time they went out. Speaker 14: 35:29 Well, the first day was pretty bad. If I remember right with Ryan, I kept the falling all the time. Right. They kept coming off. Speaker 15: 35:37 Julius is a military veteran. He lost his leg while deployed in El Salvador in 1986. When you, uh, so like when you had the amputation, did you just Speaker 1: 35:44 thank, I'll probably never ski again actually. I said I'm not going to ever do nothing again. It wasn't just skiing, it was everything. Yeah. Yeah. I was pretty bummed out about everything Speaker 15: 35:55 with all the snow this year, Julius has been coming off into the Alpine meadows resort and skiing with its achieved Tahoe program. Now some skiers here use Monto skis, which are kind of like a human at ski boot. You strap into a bucket seat with one large ski attached to the bottom and you hold on to too little outrigger skis that you use to steer. Speaker 1: 36:13 Wait, I'm going to adjust that strap real quick. Is that the amp strap or thigh strap? Michael Speaker 15: 36:18 Michelle Marie Smith is getting strapped in. Speaker 1: 36:22 Okay. Speaker 15: 36:23 Michelle recently lost her leg and the transition has been hard. Speaker 1: 36:26 Keeps me from laying in my bed, sat. These things just help your mental state beyond it could even imagine Speaker 15: 36:34 with the chief Tahoe, Michelle gets to move her body under her own will and at high speeds. Something that's been rare since she lost her leg. It's freeing. She says, and there's a bonus with being strapped in. When you crash, your equipment doesn't go flying everywhere. Speaker 1: 36:46 You're also just like boom, because you're not getting out of this at all. You're like strapped in tight. It's basically boom. Speaker 16: 36:57 Oh, right. Speaker 15: 37:01 That's David. Again. The blind skier we met earlier, he's now on the 10th run of the day. He's mirroring the turns of the guide that skiing in front of it. Speaker 16: 37:09 Oh, we'll save you transition and turn. Speaker 10: 37:13 It looks beautiful. When it happens because it's like synchronized scheme Speaker 16: 37:17 and turn. Oh, Speaker 10: 37:20 the scary part is when you're first learning how to ski and you don't have control, then then you're like, am I gonna hit that tree or am I going to turn? I don't see the trees Speaker 16: 37:35 stop. Speaker 15: 37:35 Good. David didn't ski for 20 years, but now he's trying to get back into it. He's conquered most of the intermediate trails at Alpine meadows. Next he wants to take on the biathlon, which involves skiing and shooting a rifle at targets achieved. Tahoe doesn't have a guy for that yet. Speaker 10: 37:52 That was kqbd QED, Sam, hard net reporting. Speaker 1: 38:03 This is KPBS midday edition. I'm jade Hindman Speaker 10: 38:06 and I'm mark Sauer this Saturday 80 artists across 24 stages. We'll take over normal heights for the annual Adams Avenue unplugged music festival, one of this year's headliners as a Latin Grammy Award winner and grammy nominee, singer songwriter, Gabby Marino. Speaker 17: 38:22 Oh, Speaker 10: 38:31 maybe Moreno started singing when she was a little girl growing up in Guatemala when she was 19 she left home for Los Angeles to pursue her music career, but it was a family trip that changed everything. Speaker 18: 38:43 All I remember was that I was in New York City and I heard this, this woman singing on the streets and I, I was just captivated by it or the way that she was singing that. And I remember I just stood there and for a good 20 minutes is listening to her until finally I asked her like, why was that music that she was singing? And she told me, Oh, that's the blues honey and I cannot explain it to you. It was just something that you know, gave me goosebumps and I said, this is, this is definitely a world that I want to explore. And so I, I went to a record store and I bought a bunch of different cds. I didn't know who the relevant artists of that genre where at the time. So I just bought compilation cds and then I brought them home with me and I remember I would just lock myself in my room and play these records over and over and and try to sing like those artists. I shortly after that I picked up the guitar and I started learning those songs and then started writing my songs from there. Speaker 18: 39:55 So this song is called the immigrants is a song that will be on my upcoming album with Van Dyke parks. Speaker 3: 40:03 So much trouble in the whole Mofo creek and the land of the free, Speaker 18: 40:10 and it's a song that he brought to my attention a few years ago. It was written by David Rudder from Trinidad and it was written almost 20 years ago, but it's still so relevant. We decided it was very important to keep sending that message Speaker 3: 40:38 to help him. It grants Speaker 18: 40:57 every single day that I, that I read the news and read about what they're going through and, and how they're being treated with no dignity, no humanity. And I just, I, I wish I could magically do something to change that Speaker 3: 41:18 Camino in Austin last from data Mr Mode. He knows, he knows Speaker 18: 41:48 I feel heartbroken and I feel so helpless. I wish I could be doing more to help those people. It's just devastating. I still feel 100% Guatemalan, like I never left. I mean, I'm here in this country, of course he's an immigrant and because of, because of work, because of what I decided to do with my life, but, but homes for me, it's still going in my life. I write from my, my experience as an immigrant, and this sounds a bit weird, but I just, I, I tried to be a voice for them. I know a lot of them feel like they're here in this country, in their head and they have no nothing that they can do. They can say that that means anything. So I just, I, I want to try to like be that, be that voice and um, give a little bit of a faith to them. Speaker 3: 42:43 No, Speaker 18: 42:54 I've performed in San Diego a few times before. I just love going down there. I will be performing songs from previous albums as well as some new souls that I haven't even recorded yet. But it's going to be just me and my guitar. It's going to be an acoustic set, so I'm very excited. Speaker 19: 43:14 Ooh. Oh. Oh. Speaker 10: 43:23 That was singer songwriter, Gabby Marino speaking. Go US via Skype. She'll be headlining at the Adams Avenue unplugged music festival this Saturday in normal heights. We've got ticket and event information on our website. KPBS dot o r g Speaker 18: 43:39 never Makiah and meet up. It'll say it'll see it. Speaker 10: 44:09 Okay.