Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined In San Diego, Earthquake Warning, Doctors Testing Drones, Tijuana’s Telefónica Comes To San Diego

Speaker 1: 00:01 Some of the princess cruise passengers will spend their quarantine at Miramar geologists upgrade their concern about Rose Canyon fault. I'm wearing Cavenaugh and I'm Jade Hindman. This is KPBS mid day edition. Speaker 1: 00:23 It's Monday, March 9th. U S financial markets plummeted today as concerns about the economic fallout of Corona virus increase. Meanwhile, the 2,400 people kept on board a princess cruise ship off the California coast are expected to set foot on dry land in Oakland. The ship's passengers are expected to begin disembarking within the hour after initial screening. Some of those passengers will be headed to the Marine base at Miramar for testing and quarantine. KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman covered the previous quarantine at the base and joined us to discuss what we can expect. Matt, welcome. Hey Jay. So first tell us a bit about Speaker 2: 01:03 this cruise ship. So we know that it was going to go from San Francisco originally from San Francisco into Hawaii until all this kind of coronavirus hysteria started happening. Basically they've had 21 people that's a split between passengers and crew that have tested positive for a Kobe 19. Um, also they've had their first death in California has come off of the grand princess cruise ship. Uh, all in total more than 3000 passengers are on board that ship. And we know from San Diego County health officials, they told us last week that they are monitoring a small number of San Diego is onboard that ship. So maybe those people will be able to come to MCs Miramar and finished their quarantine here. Speaker 1: 01:40 Do we know how many of the cruise ship passengers will be quarantined at Miramar? Speaker 2: 01:45 Oh, w we don't know exactly how many, I mean, we know from the federal government that uh, about a thousand of those people are California residents. They're either going to be going to Travis air force base and then there will be people continuing onto Miramar. Now we don't know how many people, uh, NCA S Miramar is going to be holding, but we do know there from base officials that they have about 300 rooms available. So if you do the math there up now you have to think 300 rooms. Doesn't just mean 300 people though, because they could have a family of four in one room. They could have a couple, a married couple in one room. So, um, we don't really know how much to expect, but we know what the gauge 300 you're talking to maybe a maximum of like 500 people or so. So probably something around there. Speaker 1: 02:21 So what do we know about how and when they'll get to Miramar? Speaker 2: 02:24 Right. So we know that the, uh, the governor Gavin Newsome said yesterday during a news conference that this whole, uh, disembarking, uh, getting passengers off, getting them tested for the virus is going to take a two to three day process. And we know from Miramar officials, uh, they, they're kind of expecting maybe as early as tomorrow, Tuesday, they would actually see some of those passengers start to come here. Uh, we do know that it might take a little bit longer because anybody who is screened and is sick, uh, will not be part of this core 14 day quarantine either at Travis air force base or our Miramar or those people will be taken to local hospitals. So people who have passed the initial health screening will be taken here. And then obviously within the 14 days they could develop symptoms in, Speaker 1: 03:03 maybe we have to take into local hospitals here in San Diego. And what about additional testing of the people who will be quarantined at Miramar? Does the County have the equipment and the capacity to test them for coronavirus? Speaker 2: 03:14 You know, it's, it's really interesting. I don't even know for sure. I mean obviously the, the County has testing capability here. Uh, and that's, that's very recent and we know that they had at least 400 tests or so and they were supposed to be getting more of those last week. I'm not sure if the County would be the ones actually testing these people. Um, obviously when we had our first evacuation flights coming from Wu Han China, that was before local jurisdictions have their own testing capabilities and those tests were being sent to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Now, I'm not sure if since this, this is really a federal government operation happening at Miramar. It's really not the county's a show. They will be helping transport people to and from local hospitals if they need to, but it's really unclear if the county's going to be the one doing this coronavirus testing here or if this is just going to be something the federal government's going to be doing. Speaker 2: 03:56 And if it is, we know that testing takes a little bit longer, up to five days to get results from CDC national. What do we know about the facilities where they'll be housed? Obviously we know, like we said earlier, there'll be 300 rooms that are available. We know that one of those facilities is literally an OnBase hotel. Uh, people who we had a chance to Skype with before have said that, you know, the, uh, of the accommodations before were actually pretty good. I mean, they had food, uh, all, all the time around. The food didn't taste that bad. Um, they had, it's basically a hotel room. They had two beds, they had a shower, they have a bath and people can just stay in their rooms. We do know, it was interesting that the last time that they had these people here on base, there were some concerns from the families that live on base, um, in terms of what their kids going to school with their kids being near these people. Um, so it'll be interesting to see again how the base approaches us if they're going to have some more of these, uh, I think they were calling them community forums with residents on base to see, kind of listen to some of their fears and try to calm them and let them know that they are at a low risk for catching the virus. Speaker 1: 04:48 In the United States there have been more than 400 positive cases in 19 deaths according to the CDC. Um, can you give us an overview of the cases we've had locally and statewide? Speaker 2: 04:58 Right. So statewide or these are numbers as of yesterday, so Sunday 114 positive tests inside the state of California and then one death. Obviously that person from the grand princess cruise ship. And we know that from that grand princess cruise ship, there could be a lot more, a lot more positive cases coming. Uh, so we'll have to keep an eye out for that. Um, in terms of San Diego County, we haven't had any positive tests come out of San Diego County unless you include the people who came from Wu Han China who were previously quarantined at MCA S Miramar or they were obviously two people from that quarantine who did test positive of they have since recovered and been released from the hospital. Um, and I assume that they are out of San Diego. Uh, we do know that we had that scare though last week. Um, with, uh, coming out of orange County, uh, an 18 T worker who lives in orange County, works in the South Bay in Chula Vista. Speaker 2: 05:45 Um, there was a meeting, they traveled to Italy, they did test positive for the virus, um, and they came in contact with some other people and now they didn't know that when they came in contact that they had the virus, County health have sends quarantine a home corn, those five people. Um, and they are waiting to see if they might need the test them. So we had a little bit of a scare here. They had to close down six of those stores throughout the County. But it appears as of right now, there is no residual. Um, you know, there's no, there's been, well first of all there's been zero evidence of community based transmission here. So once we see that we might start seeing a lot more precautions taken in the County. And lastly, remind us what our San Diego County residents being advised to do to decrease their risk of getting coronavirus and this community spread. Speaker 2: 06:24 So sort of just similar tips to the, to the flu, you know, wash your hands a lot. Um, if and County residents or sorry, County health officials telling people if you are sick, they want you to stay home. Um, and they want businesses to know, to start preparing for, Hey, there might be a lot of people who are going to be calling out sick. Um, especially if you've been around someone who may have traveled to China, who may have traveled to Italy, some of these high risk places, or they want you to call the County and let, let health officials know. But really if you're sick, stay home and just, you know, do the normal things to help you from getting sick. Wash your hands. And I remember, I think you have to sing the ABCs twice to get your hands, you know, fully washed the right way two times. All right. I have been speaking with KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman. Matt, thank you very much. Thanks. Speaker 3: 07:07 As if coronavirus worries weren't enough to keep us up at night. News from a major earthquake conference in San Diego is sure to cause some bad dreams. A paper presented at the 2020 national earthquake conference finds the risks San Diego faces from a quake on the Rose Canyon fault are much greater than previously realized. And since we've always thought our distance from the San Andreas fault makes San Diego safer from earthquakes, experts say we are not prepared for a major earthquake running right through downtown. Joining me is dr Jorge min S. S. he is lead author of the San Diego earthquake report as well as serving as a California seismic safety commissioner. And welcome to the program. Speaker 4: 07:51 Thank you. Thank you for having me. Speaker 3: 07:53 For more than a generation, we've known that the Rose Canyon fault is active, but what do we know now that raises the level of concern about a quake along the fault? Speaker 4: 08:02 Well, the over the last thing, 15 years, there are more and more studies showing the level of activity of their fault. For many years the fault was considered to be inactive. So when they built much of the existing infrastructure in San Diego buildings, et cetera, eh, they were designed and built the, the fault was inactive. So now we are realizing that the fault is active and even more active that previously believed. So that why is raising a concern that we have to address these eh hazard, particularly with the existing all infrastructure and building stock in the city. Speaker 3: 08:49 What does that mean? That the fault is more active than we thought? Speaker 4: 08:54 That doesn't mean that there are and more studies indicating the degree of capability of producing earthquakes. For example, initially we were thinking that probably we are talking about in the range of magnitude six, 6.5 et cetera. But recent studies have shown that the Rose Canyon fault if it ruptures along with a new port Ingle boot fault all the way to Los Angeles, um, could be capable of producing a magnitude 7.5. So that's different story. Now, uh, we are including these a scenario when we designed, for example, buildings, uh, under the current building code. Uh, but for the purpose of this scenario, for the study that we did, we did for a magnitude 6.9 that is more plausible for planning purposes, for awareness purposes. So these are the, the scenario earthquake that, that we selected. Speaker 3: 09:57 When was the last time there was a big earthquake on the Rose Canyon fault? Speaker 4: 10:01 It is believed that it was in 1862. So in 1862, there was a man among the two, maybe around 6.5 or so, uh, that is believed that was caused by the Rose Canyon fault and once center close to eh old town. Uh, we have to remember that in those years the population of the city was about maybe less than 1000. Speaker 3: 10:28 When do scientists expect another quake along the fault? Speaker 4: 10:33 We don't have a crystal ball to tell you that. Uh, fortunately we cannot predict earthquakes. We know for sure given the activity of the fault that there will be 100% probability that there will be an earthquake. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you when. Speaker 3: 10:51 Now your report outlines really some devastating effects that are major Rose Canyon quake could have on San Diego. Tell us what might happen. Speaker 4: 10:58 We have seen is three things, three main effects of the earthquake. Number one, the surface manifest manifestation of the fault rupture. We have to remember that the Rose Canyon rungs offshore from let's say ocean side or the way to LA Jolla, the fault enters in LA Jolla, England and then grows, eh mountain Solidad runs parallel to [inaudible]. And then hits through a downtown and then goes again offshore going parallel to the coastline all the way to the border. So we have the problem that they will be a surface manifestation of the eh fault rupture up to maybe two meters of a horizontal offset that meaning between six and seven feet. So imagine the effect on the existing buildings effect, especially in the infrastructure, water pipeline, sewage, electricity, communication, all pipelines, et cetera. Another effect is a strong ground motions because they faulty running through heavily populated areas and we have many buildings around and especially the adult building. Where are some of the buildings especially that are old, particularly built B, B for the 90s those are highly vulnerable. Okay. Seismic LA born, they're born a number three. Uh, we have very close the ocean. We have very close the river and when we have shallow groundwater table, we are talking about liquefaction. So liquefaction is when the soil becomes from um, solid state into almost liquid state and then buildings think tilled and are severely damaged Speaker 3: 13:02 and that could compromise our airport. Speaker 4: 13:06 Good compromise, the function functionality of the airport. The functionality of the port and all the other critical facilities, especially military facilities in the San Diego Bay. Speaker 3: 13:16 Uh, w part of the reason for the potential of such major damage has to do with San Diego not being as prepared as California, as other large metropolitan cities. Speaker 4: 13:26 Probably. Probably, I mean we are in the process of raising awareness about this. Um, I think something very important, either the population should be aware. Sometimes I go to Balboa park and I ask people about the Rose Canyon fault. Well, when I ask about the sung, Andrea, for many people, I mean everybody knows the San Andreas fault, but when I ask about the Rose Canyon fault, not everybody knows it. The Rose Canyon fault. And if they know about the Rose Canyon fault, they don't know where is the path, where, where is it? Is it going? So I think that there is still much work to be done in terms of raising awareness, educating people about the hazard. Uh, and the idea here is to get the people prepared. If people are prepared, they are not to be scared. Uh, so that's why awareness and preparedness are key here. Speaker 3: 14:22 Just one last question. Some of us felt some shaking from a quick last Friday night. That wasn't round Rose Canyon, right? Speaker 4: 14:29 Not the earthquake was originated in, in South of the border, uh, South of the Mexicali Valley. It was a magnitude 5.5, but it was a good, a good reminder for us because we have this national conference running from Wednesday to Friday. On Wednesday we am will this earthquake scenario on the Rose Canyon fault, how will be the impact in San Diego and then they last day, Friday evening, we have the friendly reminder from mother nature. Speaker 3: 15:01 I've been speaking with dr Jorge min, S. S he's lead author of San Diego earthquake planning scenario and thank you so much for speaking with us. Speaker 4: 15:10 Thank you for having me here. Speaker 5: 15:20 [inaudible] Speaker 3: 15:28 a growing body of research is showing the value of peer counseling for military veterans returning to civilian life programs where former service members support each other have become common around the country and in some cases have been shown to be more helpful than traditional mental health treatment from Los Angeles. Alyssa John Perry, reports for the American Homefront project. Speaker 6: 15:51 When Robert Hernandez got out of the army in 2004 after doing a tour in Iraq, he moved back to the LA area. The adjustment back to civilian life was hard. Speaker 7: 16:01 I was sleeping on a futon in my parents' living room working at home Depot. It was pretty much every day, if not every other day that I was drinking. Speaker 6: 16:10 This went on for about 11 years until a friend who he served in Iraq with som struggling. His friend called him up, asked if he wanted to work with vets in LA County through a program called battle buddy bridge. It's a vet to vet pure program where vets go through a week long training to become peer support specialists. After that, they can help other vets get connected with services like housing, military benefits, and even mental health care. Hernandez was sold. He became a peer support specialist and now as a program manager of battle buddy bridge for him being around other military folks felt familiar. Speaker 7: 16:49 The rapport that we build with these veterans, you know, and the connection we made, like talking about our experiences. Like, man, I went through the VA and I had to wait two months for an appointment. Like, dude, I get it. Speaker 6: 17:02 That's about support isn't just for the mentee. It also helps them mentor. Like Hernandez, in order to be a peer support specialist, you have to be enrolled in school. So Hernandez quit his job at home Depot, signed up to take classes at the local college and stopped binge drinking. His life has a purpose now he says, so that's helping other vets is what makes this program unique. That's according to dr Shelley Jane, she's a psychiatrist with the VA, Palo Alto and Stanford medical school and she studies peer support programs. The P is a people who have a lived experience of PTSD, but they're further along in their recovery. The idea is they share their personal story of recovery and they self-disclose about a lot of the obstacles and the issues that they sharing your own personal journey and struggles is something that regular mental health professionals don't do. Speaker 6: 17:56 But dr Jane's research shows that vets really benefit from working with each other. They report being more socially engaged, more hopeful and empowered about their futures and they're more engaged in the mental health care still. She says it's not clear. Peer support programs actually help treat PTSD. Dr Jane is studying that now in the back room of a large drafty office building. Hernandez leads a training session for mentees who want to be peer support specialists. That's right. Two reflection workshops are about thinking about one of his tips. Reflect back on your own experiences so you can be better equipped to help others. JOA Gary is one of the mentees in attendance. He spent 26 years in the army serving several tours in the middle East. When he retired, he enrolled in classes at a local LA college. That's where he met a peer support specialist from battle buddy bridge. Speaker 7: 18:52 I felt comfortable talking to her about certain things, whereas I didn't with other people. So it is relieving. Um, I could just come in at any time. Speaker 6: 19:01 Now he says he's looking to be the guy that vets come to for help. But he wants to learn more from experienced vets like Robert Hernandez for Hernandez. He's been working on battle buddy bridge for five years now. Next step he says a master's in social work so he can continue his work with vets. Speaker 7: 19:21 It's like a little motivation for them to see like, you know there is hope out there, there are people out there that want to help us Speaker 6: 19:28 and sometimes that help comes from the people who have lived through the same experiences. Joining me as a reporter, Alyssa young Perry and Alissa, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me. How did you find out about the battle buddy bridge program? Yeah, sure. So the Los Angeles County board of supervisors passed a motion last year to start up a peer to peer support program ran by the County for specifically vets, but it hadn't started yet. So I kinda just made some calls around and asked if there was a specific program they are modeling off of. And that's when someone brought up the battle buddy program here in Los Angeles. Now it sounds as if the veteran you profiled Robert Hernandez was pretty badly troubled before he got peer counseling, peer counseling. Did he try any other kinds of counseling in the years? He was struggling, you know, I don't know that he did. Speaker 6: 20:23 Um, especially formal counseling, but I know he did go to the VA and he got diagnosed with PTSD. Okay. So both the menu profiled or out of the service for quite a few years before they came into the battle buddy program. Can it also help vets who have recently left the service? I think so. I just really think it depends on that person, that vet and how far they are along in their own process of, you know, wanting help and accepting help. They did tell me at battle buddy bridge that the Vietnam vets and the world war II era vets are harder to reach because many of them don't know that they're entitled to VA benefits. So that's something also that they're trying to reach is the older vets. How much training do the peer counselors have in this program? It's a week long training. Um, I think that they have to do a certain amount of hours that add up to a week and do the peer counselors refer, uh, their buddies, the guys that there are counseling to professionals if their problems are too big to handle. Speaker 6: 21:24 Yeah, they do do that. They, you know, if someone needs emergency housing or needs counseling and is in a crisis and there's just too much for someone who's only, you know, only had a week training. So they do have professionals, um, on standby and they're sort of like the middleman that can connect them. Did the vets you spoke with tell you why it's easier for them to open up to fellow veterans? You know, these vets said it was an understanding that vets have around one one another that civilian people don't have. Right. So you're going to war. Your life is threatened constantly. You see your friends die and battle. Those are all experiences that are very unique. While they may not have served in the same war or same military branch, they, those kinds of experiences I think are very unique. And so that's what connects them. Speaker 6: 22:14 What events have to be in school to become peer support specialists? Yes. For this specific program it's through the volunteers of America, the Los Angeles chapter. So for this program they ask people to be enrolled in school so they can get credits and I think they also can get paid out. Now one of the doctors in your report said it's not clear if the peer support actually helps with PTSD, but she's going to study it. Can you tell us more about that? Sure. So dr Jane said that they would have to do randomized controlled trials and they like to do it in multiple sites to make sure that there's are a standard. Right. But a peer support, it hasn't gone through that rigorous research yet, but she says it's going on right now. And so she says it will probably take a couple of years for the results to come to the forefront. Speaker 6: 23:05 And why is it that veterans want to become peer support specialists? Sure. For some of them, I think it's the duty of helping others. I think, you know, when you're in the military it's service and I think for them, you know, this is another way to help somebody and especially help somebody that they had a connection with shared experiences and it just, you know, I think it makes them feel good helping another person, you know, and elevates their hope and it helps them. It makes them feel good too. It helps them definitely as well, like that sense of structure and you know, just Speaker 1: 23:46 positive reinforcement I've been speaking with from Puerto Elyssa John Perry. Alyssa, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Speaker 8: 23:56 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 23:58 doctor visits can often be inconvenient, but what if you have to come back the next day because your test couldn't be done. KPBS science and technology reporter Shalina Celani Lani says, doctors have found an unconventional solution, drones to a conventional problem Speaker 9: 24:15 at the UC San Diego. Urgent care in LA Hoya. Patients wait for their needs to be [inaudible] Speaker 10: 24:20 called versus when they call you, you're all set anywhere to your local doctor. Visits are long enough. Speaker 9: 24:25 Some of these patients will likely return. That's because typically urgent and primary care facilities don't have labs to test samples like blood. Sometimes it can take days for patients to get a full diagnosis. Says James Kelleen in emergency care physician at UC San Diego school of medicine. Speaker 10: 24:42 Say there's a patient who has diabetes, high blood pressure and they get labs drawn and then several hours later or the next day you find out that they have worsening kidney function. Speaker 9: 24:55 Colleen says, hospitals solve this problem with a tube system that uses air pressure to shoot packages around the facility. So doctors can swiftly get samples to a lab and process them within 20 minutes to an hour. But clinics typically have to drive samples to a lab by car. Speaker 10: 25:11 You assume when you drop off the specimens with the car that it gets transported from your point a to point B, it actually goes to several other places and that can take several hours. Speaker 9: 25:21 Meanwhile, a patient's health could get worse. And the goal for medical systems is to prevent patients from having to make an urgent and costly trip to the hospital. So Colleen thought, why not try a different type of vehicle Speaker 10: 25:34 to speed this process up? By flying drones, we can actually deliver these specimens in a timely fashion that's really cost efficient. UC San Diego Speaker 9: 25:44 is testing out drones or unmanned aircraft. These four armed robots with spinning fans are about the size of a trashcan lid and can propel into the air carrying a few pounds worth of medical supplies and samples. Dr synthy speedy aircraft will reduce patient wait times. UC San Diego is the second hospital system in the country to do this. The first is wake med in Raleigh, North Carolina. That hospital has had a few drones going to a clinic across the street for a year with promising results. The average delivery time across that very short route, less than a mile was probably 40 minutes to two hours and we can do it now and seven to 10 minutes. Stuart Guinn is a medical director at wake med. Again, a former pilots as federal regulations around drones are strict, but in 2017 the federal aviation administration announced a program. Now 10 cities are testing drones and fields ranging from policing. Speaker 9: 26:39 To agriculture. San Diego and Raleigh got medical package. Ken says it's too early to tell whether a few drones are really saving the hospital money and time, but he believes a network of drones could have an impact. We might be able to consolidate laboratory activities back at our main lab instead of having to stand up a small standalone laboratory, which is costly. He admits creating that network could take time because drones are still a new technology is out in people's communities and you can get clearance to fly, but where do you land? It's a much more nuanced technology, so wake med teamed up with the drone company Matternet and the delivery service ups to make sure these first drones are safe and monitored at the campus. Last week, two Matternet employees chatted over walkie talkie as a drone lifts into the air in a public demonstration of the technology. Speaker 9: 27:33 Mark Taylor is with ups. The aircraft itself is equipped with a parachute. It flies on a predetermined path. If it deviates at all. The pair at the parachute goes off. Taylor says federal regulators. Manufacturers will be gathering data as these initial Joan programs progress. Can we fly further? Can we carry a heavier payload? And Matthew GeneSight is chief innovation officer at UC San Diego health says, even though there are these unanswered questions and risks, the hospital is embracing the drone project because it means innovation. You know, you need to take a leap of faith. You need to have a vision for how technologies could potentially evolve. He says the hospital will evaluate the Jones study when it's over and decide from there whether to integrate the aircraft into the system. You know, I think we're going to see a lot more drones. Ups and Matternet officials say they hope to work with federal regulators to extend drones to more hospitals around the country. Shalina Celani K PBS news. Speaker 11: 28:34 [inaudible] Speaker 3: 28:38 Telefonica gastro park has grown into one of the most popular destinations for both locals and tourists in Tijuana. The KPBS border podcast only here continues its conversation style episodes with host Allen Lillian Thall talking to Antonio Gamba, the founder of the foodie hotspot. Gamba describes his cross border upbringing and details, how his parking lot filled with food trucks sprouted organically. Then eventually grew into the popular collection of food trucks, beer, wine, art and coffee that it is now. It seems like food truck parks are more and more popular in Tijuana and really kind of everywhere. Um, but it was probably a very innovative back then when you started it. Why, how did that begin the food truck concept? Why did, why, why specifically you doing that? Speaker 12: 29:27 Well, a vacant lot that was owned by my family where we started actually. So a, a young man came in with a food truck and he said he wanted to park there. So my mom called me up and said, well, there's a man who was very, a very respectful young man at wants to park here, but I don't know what to say to him because, you know, it's not, it's not that easy. So I said, okay mom, I'll come talk to him. So I talked to him and I said, you know what, uh, it's very difficult to let you in here and you know, Permian, there is no lights, there's no nothing. So, um, I said, but you know what gave me your CV and let me see who you are and let's see, uh, if we can do something for you. I, I truly wanted to help him out. He seemed very nice, really. Speaker 13: 30:12 Antonio asked around and found out that the young chef had been trained at the culinary Institute of Tijuana. Antonio knows the founder of this school, so he called him up and the guy had nothing but praise for the kid's talent. So Antonio decided to let the chef park his food truck in his family his lot and do his food truck thing. Speaker 12: 30:29 Uh, I came to the arrangement with him to, uh, just let my mom eat for free when she was there and to clean up the space. And, uh, if somebody came from the city or something that you just parked there at his, will, we, we didn't know anything. Speaker 13: 30:43 So they were off to the races. The young chefs started serving hamburgers and tacos, but not regular average hamburgers and tacos. The Quanta is a multicultural Haven, so he started mixing in untraditional flavors using local and fresh ingredients. There was nothing like it in the Quanta. And people took note five fans turn into 10 then 20. And eventually there was a little crowd there. Every time Antonio would drive by the lot. It wasn't long before another chef took notice and asked if he could park his food truck there too. Speaker 12: 31:16 And I'm like, huh. Like, let me think about it. So then, uh, we started to see if, if it was going to work. So I said, same deal, you know, I don't worry about it. Let's see if we can get it. We could again get it going right to the second food truck. So then a synergy kind of came over like very good, good food from, from these little two carts. And then I started with a friend talking about, you know, what, what if I lease officially lease the property from my, my family and get these guys to pay for the yeah, for the lease. And it's a win win for everybody. Right. Speaker 13: 31:54 The law had been sitting there empty for almost a decade. So he pitched the idea to the family and they said yes. After getting the green light, Antonio's architect friend offered to do some measurements and figure out how many trucks they could fit on the lot. Speaker 12: 32:08 So a couple of days went and he said, you can put like 19 food trucks here. And I'm like, really? Like yes. Oh cool. So that'd be pretty good. And then we started thinking that maybe quality was the way to go and not quantity. And if we had these local young shafts, if there were proposals, if there were enough proposals, we can do something with them and showcase them here. And just half, like 10. That was the magic number and make very, very a fordable lease I went from how much would you spend if you have a food truck and you have to go park it wherever you need to go park it and then come back again. How much gas would you need to do that? So that was my premise is on, that's what you're going to pay rent. That's it. You know. So it was a very good proposition. It was a win-win proposition for everybody. Speaker 13: 33:04 So Antonio put the word out, any chef with a creative proposal was welcome to apply for a spot on the lot and apparently there was a lot of interest because in just a few weeks, heavy hitters like Javier Placentia and now world renowned chef from [inaudible] said they wanted in on the action, most of the proposals were coming from food trucks that Antonio calls new school or creative and imaginative takes on the classics. But there was even interest amongst some more traditional chefs like auto, a guy who has a following of his own among the Quanta, his older crowd and the mixing of the new school with the traditional really worked. The spot grew organically and without much more than word of mouth promotion, the locals kept coming and coming. It seemed like the Quanta was hungry for something new continent. How long were you guys in that? In that vacant lot for Speaker 12: 33:54 about two years. About two years. So, and, and, and old school guy, uh, auto, he struggled at first, but I think younger generations told that, Oh, two is there. Oh, where's the, Oh, what is there? So, and it was when Facebook was also like starting up. Speaker 13: 34:10 So I had to open it up to the whole family. So instead of just being for the young people, it was for everybody. Speaker 12: 34:15 Now, now you would see not young people, but older generations of T one N says coming into the, Oh there's, there's auto, are there, you know, those flavors I remember there are good. And now younger people said, Oh, this is new for me. These, these all school flavors are new to them also. So I think it's kind of kind of just jelled there. And it really was a, uh, a fortunate mix of very talented and very responsible and very hardworking chefs and people that wanted to succeed. And I think they saw the opportunity as well and it was only going to happen with hard work and they succeeded very well at it. Speaker 3: 35:01 That was Telefonica gastro park founder Antonio gumbo talking with only here host Alan Lillian Thall. Later in the episode on Tonio break some food news, he tells Alan that he's currently working on our opening Telefonica North day in San Diego. You can listen to the full episode on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search only here. KPBS Speaker 13: 35:33 from Madell to Raheem Devonne and sting with shaggy musical artists Speaker 1: 35:38 from across genres had performed behind NPRs tiny desk adorned with musical momentos and memorabilia. NPR music's tiny desk series gives artists a chance to showcase their talent in a way never heard before. And an intimate concert like the time Speaker 14: 35:54 pain transformed his auto tuned nightclub banger buy you a drink into a love ballot against the backdrop of soft piano keys back in 2014 Speaker 5: 36:06 [inaudible]. Speaker 14: 36:07 Hello. Speaker 15: 36:13 No, no, no. Speaker 14: 36:19 [inaudible] wasn't a lemon. Talk to you. Let me buy you a tray. Speaker 1: 36:25 The audience always gives a new twist and tiny desk concerts also wants to give their audience a chance to discover unknown artists. The 2020 tiny desk contest, which is a nationwide search to find the next great undiscovered musician is now open and looking for entries. Joining us is Bob Boylan, host of all songs considered and creator of the tiny desk concert series. Bob, welcome. Hi Jade. Thank you. So first tell me about how the tiny desk concert series came to be. Speaker 16: 36:55 Uh, I came to be as quite by an accident, uh, as many great things in life do. Uh, and it was a, an artist that I went to see in South by Southwest at a music festival. Her name was Laura Gibson. I went with Steven Thompson, um, who is, uh, um, workmate here at NPR music. And we went to see Laura and hear her when we couldn't. Uh, she was drowned out by a bunch of people watching a basketball game basically. Uh, she came off stage, we introduced ourselves and said, uh, Steven, Steven jokingly said, uh, you know what? We couldn't hear you and you know what? It would be great if you came and just played a, a little private concert for us at our office. And we laughed. And three weeks later she came. Speaker 1: 37:42 Do you know, I guess in 2014 the contest, uh, also grew out of that. Why are you all doing it and who gets to participate? Speaker 16: 37:50 Well, I mean the thing about the contest that I love is that we get to see people who we would, I know I'd never get to see as often as I go to shows. I'd still, I'd rarely ever get to see any of the people who are sending the submissions to the contest cause we're looking for unsigned artists. And most of the artists that I'll go see, uh, or get in my inbox are people who might have, even if it's a small label, might have a label. Uh, and so we want people over 18, uh, that's contest rule, uh, writing an original song or presenting us with an original song of theirs behind a desk of their choosing. Uh, then they have to live in the U S and those are the main things, uh, details and all of their, on the time you just contest site, they read the specifics of the rules. Speaker 16: 38:36 But that's the, that's the heart of it. So what do winners of the contest get? A life changing experience? But, but I jokingly say that, and I bet I truly mean that. Uh, every artist who's played the tiny desk, uh, their lives have changed. They've get heard by an awful lot of people and an awful lot of people who can help, uh, get their music out into the world. And that's what's life changing about it. Uh, they also get to go on tour at 10 cities. Uh, we will go, uh, around the country and people will hear their music. Often. A lot of those people are, uh, public radio stations and, and their listening audience. Um, and so that's one thing, but, but I think the biggest thing is that notoriety and they'll get hurt by ears and eyes that would never, ever see or hear them for the people submitting. Speaker 16: 39:30 You know, what kind of talent is the panel looking for? Well, I love looking for something that I've never seen or heard before in some way, shape, or form. It could be a subtle difference in the way somebody sings a phrase. It could be a as different as someone who has invented their own, their own instrument did. So I just, I like to see something that's surprising, that's different, um, and shows a sense of originality. So who's the most memorable winner of the contest for you and what was it about their sound that made them a winner? It's hard for me to pick just one of the, of the five winners we've had, but uh, I'll pick tank in the bank is for as an example. Uh, they showed a sense of, uh, both humor and a depth of emotion, Speaker 5: 40:23 empathy and opened me up to a world of storytelling that I've seen in many bands ever before. Come on snap, snap, snap, Speaker 16: 40:45 very unusual. Amazing band from new Orleans. Earlier you mentioned exposure. Have any of the winners of the contest gone on to be signed by a record label? Almost all of them and a few have gone on to win Grammy awards or Grammy nominated, uh, toward the world. I mean, like I said, life changing. Absolutely life changing. I've always wondered what's in the collection of musical memorabilia behind the tiny desk. What's the coolest thing back there? Maybe the decaying Chris steely birthday cake when Chris steely came, uh, to play a, I hope I get this right with nickel Creek for an anniversary tour. They did, uh, he had just gotten braces. Uh, and when he came back with punch brothers a handful of years later, it was his birthday and we him a birthday cake with a, uh, a big smiley face with braces on it. And the only part of the cake that didn't get eaten was the part with the braces. And I put that under a, you know, when you used to buy Splank CDs that big, um, plastic, uh, to kind of thing that the CDs would take underwhelmed. I put his cake under that, took a little duct tape and taped it up and it's, uh, it's been, uh, four years or so and it's decayed and it's behind my desk. Speaker 1: 42:02 Any advice you have for local bands here in San Diego who are working on submitting their injuries? Speaker 16: 42:08 Uh, well, first of all, submit it. Don't think about submitting it, actually do it and get it in early. Uh, if you get it in an early, there's a good chance more people here will see it so that perhaps we'll put, make a little blog entry on it. Uh, everybody seems to tend to want to do it on the last day and so you'll get heard but buried. But you'll get buried in, uh, in the thousands of entries that come on that last day. So do it sooner. Uh, do something you're proud of and send it our way. Speaker 1: 42:39 I've been speaking with Bob Boylan, host of all songs considered and creator of the tiny desk concert series. Bob, thanks so much for joining us. Pleasure. The deadline to submit for the tiny desk concert series is March 30th. And of course, speaking of concerts, KPBS will once again hosted summer music series beginning in August, 2020 participating local bands will be selected in June and we will be watching out for any San Diego submissions to tiny desk. So we want as many San Diego bands and artists to enter the tiny desk contest as possible.