San Diego County Surpasses 1 Million Vaccine Doses

Speaker 1: 00:00 San Diego County reaches a vaccine mile. Speaker 2: 00:03 We're talking about a million residents. Those are all a million residents who have been at least one dose that are over 16 years old. Speaker 1: 00:09 I'm Jade Heintzman with Andrew bow and Maureen is off. This is KPBS midday edition. Speaker 2: 00:24 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 00:24 San Diego's transportation. Chief reacts to president Biden's infrastructure plan. Speaker 2: 00:29 It's bold and it's needed. Uh, I think, uh, we we've been waiting quite a while for a national strategy for investment in infrastructure Speaker 1: 00:39 And a look at recommendations on how police handle protest. Plus the efforts to get student athletes paid that's ahead on midday edition. San Diego County has tightened the race between COVID-19 and vaccinations. Sunday. We reached a milestone. We surpassed 1 million vaccine doses. This as more variants begin to surface KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman has been covering the counties vaccination efforts and joins us with the latest Matt. Welcome. So that 1 million number I mentioned is of doses. And two of the three vaccines approved require two doses before someone is fully vaccinated. So where are we at with the number of people who have been fully vaccine? Speaker 2: 01:34 Yeah, so that 1 million number, those are people who have received at least one dose. And we know that who people who are fully vaccinated, so either getting both doses or that one Johnson and Johnson is more than 600 San Diego, 600,000 San Diego, excuse me. And we know that that's 22% more than 22% of all residents over age, 16 years old. Keep in mind the numbers here. We're talking about a million residents. Those are all a million residents who have gotten at least one dose that are over 16 years old. Speaker 1: 02:00 Last week, more people became eligible for the vaccine, remind us who is currently Speaker 2: 02:05 Eligible. Yeah, Jade. So right now everyone aged 50 and older is eligible to get a vaccination. And basically, you know, before you might've had to had an underlying condition, or maybe you had to bring some paperwork to show that you were an educator, um, none of that is required. Now, you know, you book your appointment online, you know, you come, you show your ID, no questions asked over 50 and get your appointment. And then starting in middle of April, that opens up to everyone, age 16 and older with the same thing, no restrictions there, Speaker 1: 02:29 We actually have enough vaccines for all of the people who are eligible right now. Speaker 2: 02:34 Well, we know supplies have been increasing, you know, super resonates. And Fletcher said our most recent County allocation was a 25% bump, which is the highest bump that we've seen since getting vaccinations. But it's, it's not keeping up with demand. You know, they estimate at around the 30 or so County sites, plus some other ones that could do at surge capacity, 50,000 shots a day, but they're doing, you know, a little over 12,000 a day right now, but ideally they'd like to be doing around 30,000, but supply is still lagging behind that demand right now, which is very, very high and County officials are warning people, you know, that may be hard to find appointments, but they're asking people, you know, just to have some patients here Speaker 1: 03:09 And scripts, uh, mentioned they're shutting down Del Mar, right? Speaker 2: 03:12 Yeah. You know, that's, that's been a constant thing that we have seen at some of these super stations. You know, the one downtown Petco park people might remember, um, having a lot of appointments they're rescheduled. Um, and then also, you know, that new Delmar's Superstation, uh, scripts has had some issues there over the last few weeks with supply. Um, and you know, sometimes it seems like the County goes after the biggest fish, so to speak, you know, closing one of those super stations. So they might not have to close down five or six smaller pods. Speaker 1: 03:36 Yeah. And Del Mar will be closed from Wednesday to Sunday due to the lack of a vaccine. All of this makes getting an appointment that much harder. Um, do you have any advice for people who are eligible for a vaccination, but are struggling to get an appointment? Speaker 2: 03:50 You know, there's a lot of different places to get vaccination appointments. You know, we talk a lot about, uh, the, the, the County sponsored sites, you know, the ones that are on the, my turn website, there's also a lot of pharmacies, you know, some of those pharmacies you'll see on the, my turn website, like bonds pharmacies, uh, but then there's ones like writings that are not listed on there. You know, that they, they use their own portal. Uh, we know the Cal fire, San Diego part of operation collaboration, they're doing vaccinations. Um, and those are booked through prep mod, which is an online system. Um, they're, you know, they're going to be this week up in some rural areas up in Campo. I know for a day on Wednesday, they have a couple, uh, semi-permanent vaccination sites in Carlsbad. So checking out all your options, you know, just because you might not be able to find one on my turn, you might be able to find one through a pharmacy or through one of these mobile CallFire sites. Speaker 1: 04:33 And the governor was in city Heights this week and hailed the county's vaccination effort, particularly in the hardest hit communities. Can you tell us about the state goal in terms of prioritizing those in lower income areas? Speaker 2: 04:45 Right. So we know that that's something that the governor likes to talk about a lot about how the state is allocating vaccinations to communities that have been hardest hit by. COVID-19 something that he says not a lot of other States are doing. And, you know, some of the response that we're seeing, you know, we're seeing a vaccine vaccination events happening, uh, targeting communities like Barrio Logan. There was one this past Saturday there. Um, but the governor says that this is something that's really important. Here's the governor. Speaker 3: 05:06 This state is the only state in the country that has committed 40% of all of its first doses to be set aside under an equity framework, which will allow cities and counties like San Diego to move more quickly through these tiers. Speaker 1: 05:23 And so Matt, how does the equity framework change the tier structure? Speaker 2: 05:28 Right? So th th th this happened before, it was actually how we got into the red tier earlier, you know, the state benchmark it's in 2 million doses, and some of those hardest hit communities, they set a new benchmark of hitting 4 million doses in those hardest hit communities. Basically once they hit that benchmark, uh, the bar changes, so to speak the bar's lowered a little bit, and that's how we could be getting into that orange tier earlier than we thought. Speaker 1: 05:47 Hmm. And if we hit that next benchmark 4 million doses statewide, we'll be eligible to go from the red to orange tier, what would being in the orange tier change, right? So we're talking Speaker 4: 05:58 About restrictions for a lot more businesses being relaxed. So we're talking about indoor retail on things like churches, the capacity doubles in there. We're seeing a lot of, a lot of doublings in, in terms of capacity, you know, gym capacity increases, uh, movie theaters. They can only be at 10% right now that that is going to increase. So maybe not so many sectors reopening completely, but we're seeing an expansion of capacity Speaker 5: 06:19 Speaking to KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman, Matt. Speaker 4: 06:22 Thank you. Thanks Jared [inaudible] Speaker 5: 06:33 Last week, president Joe Biden unveiled his $2 trillion proposal for infrastructure it's meant to boost the economy as it emerges from the pandemic recession, but it's also pitched as a chance to invest in sustainable transportation with hundreds of billions of dollars for mass transit and electric vehicles that may sound familiar. San Diego is transportation planning agency. SANDAG is also seeking to boost, spending on trains and buses. Joining me to discuss what could be in this plane for San Diego is a Sonic CRADA executive director of SANDAG Hassan. Welcome to the program. First I'd like to ask for your reaction to the president's infrastructure proposal. What about it stuck out to you? Speaker 4: 07:15 Well, uh, it's bold and it's needed. Uh, I think, uh, we we've been waiting for a while for a national strategy for investment in infrastructure, as you know, uh, and, and you and I spoke about before we were ahead of the curve in San Diego, we wanted that bold vision, um, uh, to be here in the San Diego region. And I think as a region, we're well positioned to compete nationally, uh, for the stimulus. And I hope it takes place and it's approved and signed by the president. So we could get, go get to work, Speaker 5: 07:51 Eric and job's plan as this bill is officially called includes $85 billion to improve public transit across the country. How much would San Diego County expect to receive from that? If this bill is passed, how do these dollars typically get to districts? Speaker 4: 08:06 Yeah, well, uh, there is two ways, uh, they can, they, you usually have two ways to distribute it. One is by formula based on population and too competitive. And I think in this case, I believe they're going to be a hybrid model. Uh, we can't compete well. Uh, as you know, we've been talking about extensive expansion of our transit systems, uh, depend with are, they cannot require that the project be shovel-ready or not. Uh, but, uh, if they also gonna fund a project in the environment and, and, and design, but we believe we are positioned better than any region, probably in the country. Speaker 5: 08:44 What types of new public transit infrastructure is SANDAG planning right now, and how much of those are shoved? Speaker 4: 08:51 That is about a total $1.9 billion project, uh, in the San Diego region that are shovel-ready. Some of them we'll get into next generation rabbit. Some was the improvement gestation. Some would double tracking in the loss and Canada at knowing some tunnels. Those are shovel-ready and there's about $1.9 billion of them are already about 119 projects altogether in terms of the mega projects, uh, like for example, the purple line, uh, that the blue line, the configuration of the whole fast high-speed underground system, where some of them are not, not shovel-ready, but will be shovel-ready in a couple of years of we did the local funding. Uh, so I think depends how the funding is pulled out. We believe we are ready to compete now, which I would read the project, but also compete in couple of years for projects that are gonna reshape and reimagine the future of transit in the region. Speaker 5: 09:52 Biden's plan also includes $80 billion for inter-city rail, like Amtrak, where could SANDAG use that money? Speaker 4: 10:00 I mean, obviously we have the second busiest corridor in the country here called the Lausanne corridor, Los Angeles, San Lucas corridor that goes from San Diego. Although it's San Louis Obispo, as you know, this character is a lifeline for passenger movement and for goods moment, again, the second busiest in the country after the Northeast corridor, we believe this we are ready. And more than that video, we are actually very appropriate for a national funding because this is a character of national significance. So we think the Los Angeles that is going to get significant, uh, federal funding, uh, to make this character a, you know, uh, a real high-speed, uh, fast, uh, service. Uh, for example, right now it's flipped from San Diego to Los Angeles takes about one hour and 30 minutes. That could be, uh, reduced to less than two hours. If we double track, we straighten the character, the Miramar cave, and we move the track of the plus. So we think Lausanne is going to do really well competing. National Speaker 5: 11:05 Biden wants to spend about $115 billion on roads and bridges, but the emphasis is meant to be on fixing them before making them wider to accommodate more cars. Is this the right approach? Speaker 4: 11:17 Absolutely. Uh, and, and that was our approach in our five big moves and not a single mile of expansion, but a huge opportunity to add capacity to our highway system, by pricing, doing improvement. And I think that's what, what, uh, our president's plan is consistent with what we've been saying over the last two years, Speaker 5: 11:40 SANDAG is considering some kind of local tax measure to fund a lot of the projects and its next transportation plan. Now, if this bill ultimately passes Congress, do you expect that SANDAG would still need that revenue or could the federal government just make that unnecessary? Speaker 4: 11:57 Uh, usually you're more likely to compete for federal state dollars. If you have local dollars on the table, that has been the case. That's why SANDAG was successful in competing in the past. I expect the same thing to move forward again. Uh, so we expect the region to need local revenues and these local revenues will bring almost two and a half dollars to every dollar of every local dollar. So it's a good deal for San Diego. Actually Speaker 5: 12:24 You said many times before that some of the highway widening projects that SANDAG has had in its planning documents for many years simply won't happen because they are in conflict with the state's goal of reducing car travel in greenhouse gas emissions. When will we know exactly which of these highway projects are on the chopping block Speaker 4: 12:43 By June? Uh, we are releasing the draft regional transportation plan, and you're going to see clearly that, uh, no highway expansion project will move forward in this plan as a staff, that recommendation goes without the board goes with it is yet to be seen, but by June, uh, you and your, uh, your, your listeners is going to see a very detailed list of the project that's going to move forward. And none of them will be a highway expansion. There will be a highway capacity increases by pricing some by using shoulders for priority for buses. And carpoolers by actually taking some existing infrastructure, combining it with, with, uh, with the new ones to price to landslide, we did invite 15, but you shouldn't have to wait long in two months, you're going to see that Speaker 5: 13:35 Most people in San Diego County still drive nowadays, why should we not be investing our infrastructure dollars in ways that make driving better and more convenient? Wouldn't that help the most people Speaker 4: 13:46 Just adding lanes is never going to be squabbling, um, the traffic problems, but managing congestion sort of pricing and other mechanism is the latent demand kicks in when you add capacity. So therefore I don't believe it's the right strategy to start thinking, expanding even so 90%, 90% of us drive and will continue to drive probably. But having said that we have an obligation to make sure whether, whether we drive or take transit, we have real options to do it and not always go. Uh, when you have congestion set aside the land, because that doesn't work, it didn't work. When Houston built a 26 lane freeway, that became one of the most congested in the country. After a few months at the open, it doesn't work. Just adding blends, simply doesn't work. Speaker 5: 14:36 I've been speaking with Hassan and CRADA executive director of SANDAG cause some thanks for your time. Speaker 4: 14:41 Thank you, Andrew. And I really do appreciate you and your reporting. Thank you very much, Andrew. Speaker 5: 14:51 You're listening to Speaker 1: 14:52 KPBS midday edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Andrew Bowen. Maureen Kavanaugh is off today. California is home to an estimated 900,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the U S as children. Many of whom are waiting for the Senate to pass legislation that would offer them a path to citizenship. The house approved one last month, KQ EDS for Rita John Romero reports on one California dreamer working to achieve permanent protections Speaker 6: 15:20 In September, 2017. Gabriella Cruz watched in shock as the Trump administration announced it was ending the first action for childhood arrivals or DACA. Speaker 7: 15:30 That was like a, a big wake up call for me. Speaker 6: 15:33 Obama era program had allowed her and hundreds of thousands of other young undocumented immigrants to work legally in this country and be safe from deportation. Speaker 7: 15:44 So like I, I could live my life in peace and look forward to a future. Speaker 6: 15:48 The time she was 27 and working at a mortgage bank in Santa Cruz, where she has lived since her mom brought her from Mexico as a baby, losing DACA would have meant going back into the shadows. She had to do something. So she and her mom started selling hundreds of homemade tamales to raise money for a trip to Washington DC. With other DACA recipients, young immigrants were gathering again before the Capitol to rally and support of the dream act, which was introduced in Congress for the first time in 2001 Speaker 8: 16:29 [inaudible] Speaker 6: 16:29 It says hearing and being a part of chance and protests like this one made her realize she could not live her life in fear. She became a full-time organizer. Speaker 7: 16:39 This is about demanding dignity and equality for our community. Speaker 6: 16:44 Cruz is now 31 and the California coordinator for United we dream and national network pushing to legalize undocumented immigrants. Part of that is getting this year's dream act through the Senate. That bill would offer a pathway to citizenship, to an estimate at 1.7 million dreamers polls show Americans overwhelmingly support that, but the proposed legislation needs 60 votes to pass in the evenly split Senate, Speaker 7: 17:11 Immigration advocates and undocumented young people in particular have a very difficult Hill to climb Speaker 6: 17:19 Along their X, the U S immigration policy center at UC San Diego. Speaker 7: 17:23 So the question is where do those additional 10 votes come from? Assuming that Democrats hold party line Speaker 6: 17:32 Now United we dream and other advocates say they've been meeting with Republican Senate staffers and trying to pressure senators like Marco Rubio, Florida, Speaker 8: 17:46 [inaudible] Speaker 6: 17:47 Protesters livestreamed. As they a mariachi band to Rubio's home last week to quote, wake him up to protect immigrants. Wong says, even if the bill doesn't get the 60 votes, the fight is far from over. Speaker 9: 18:01 We have seen undocumented young people put their lives at stake in order to advance things like DACA. And so I think we can expect similar things to come. Speaker 6: 18:18 Gabriella. Cruz says, they'll keep up the pressure on lawmakers and president Biden, who campaigned on more humane immigration policies, bringing out first-time voters like cruises, two younger sisters who were born in the U S Speaker 9: 18:32 Now it's time for them to fulfill these promises that they made. And many people who voted for the first time. Not only as a country, we are ready for that. Speaker 6: 18:48 And that's a dream she'll keep fighting for. I'm fighting [inaudible]. Speaker 9: 18:52 Yeah. Speaker 5: 19:01 San Diego's commission on police practices is recommending a number of changes to the San Diego police departments, protest policy. They want SDPD to clarify when a protest can be declared an unlawful assembly and they want changes to the usage of body camera footage protestors in San Diego have long been decrying. What they see as a disproportionate response to lawful demonstrations while police officials often cite unruly behavior among protestors, as the reason the events escalate into violence here to discuss the commission's recommendations is chair Brandon Hilpert Brandon. Welcome to the program. Thank you. Glad to be here. How did the commission come up with these changes to SDPD protest policy? Speaker 9: 19:43 Sure. Well actually, let me take a step back is, uh, after the George Floyd incidents last year, we actually took a look to see what San Diego police department had. Uh, and we realized that they actually didn't have a standalone protest policy. They were using existing policies, uh, for use of force. And when you can use, um, chemical agents, things like that, um, which we, to be honest, I was surprised about because, uh, I never thought to look and once we realized it wasn't there, uh, we felt it was appropriate for San Diego to, to make that change. So at the time the CRB, uh, held some committee meetings, uh, with a policy committee and we looked at some policies around the country. Specifically, we found Seattle, uh, Oakland Fresno and Washington DC, uh, to be some of the best that we found across the country that we thought could be leveraged here in San Diego. Speaker 9: 20:29 So the CRB at the time for, to those, to the police department, uh, and then they looked at those and they decided that they would go ahead and start to create a standalone policy specifically for protest related activities. So based upon that, uh, you know, once they wrote their policy, they shared that with us. We had our, our first policy committee meeting where we reviewed it, had some initial conversations. And then we also held a community round table to try to get more community feedback of what they like, what they don't like, what they would like to see. And then we brought it to the full committee, uh, sorry, the commission meeting to have the commission vote on it. And then we wrote our memo to the police department last week. Speaker 5: 21:03 Tell me more about the outreach process. I know in the past, there's been some discontent over how much the community is involved with the polices policies and how they're changed. What kind of outreach did you do to come up with these recommendations? Speaker 9: 21:18 Sure. So as you know, um, the commission has kind of in a state of flux right now, as we've moved from a review board to a commission model. So we're not completely commissioned yet, but as part of that process, we want to make sure that the community has the opportunity to, to voice their opinions and what they like and what they don't like. Um, that's not to say that we'll be able to implement everything that the community always requests, but, uh, we wanted to try to be as open and transparent as to what we're doing. So even before we got to the protest policy, uh, we started doing community outreach, uh, events, um, our outreach committee chair held four community round tables. Uh, some of the feedback we got from that kind of leveraged into the policy, uh, recommendations we had for protest related issues, but specifically for the protest policy. Uh, again, we have a, an open meeting, uh, for the policy committee. Uh, we then make those recommendations to the full commission. And then the commission meeting is an open meeting, of course. Uh, but for this one, we actually held an additional community round table, uh, before our open meetings. So we could try and get that feedback, incorporate that into our recommendations and then present that to the full commission, to have them vote on our, our feedback. Speaker 5: 22:20 Did you or anyone else on the commission observe any of the contentious protests firsthand and how did that experience form the basis for these recommendations? Speaker 9: 22:30 Yeah, so I personally did not. Um, I know some of our commission members did, um, you know, as a commission, we try to be independent. Uh, we don't want to really be on the side of the police department or necessarily on the side of the community. We try to be an independent, uh, review, uh, it's going to be, you know, investigatory model. Um, but I mean, I think one of the things that we do tend to see is when we do review, uh, community complaints, um, sometimes those are protests related, uh, and you know, sometimes just standard, you know, events have happened. Um, so oftentimes our recommendations are based on the complaints that we see. And then when, once we're analyzing that complaint and we look at the policy and the procedure, we realized that maybe the policy procedure doesn't really respond the way we think it should. Speaker 9: 23:09 Uh, so that's usually how most of our recommendations, uh, come about as, you know, either we see something that's either on the news or, you know, like to your point, if people have been actually out at a protest and they saw something that was, you know, maybe could have been handled better, um, or complaints that just come in. So, uh, again, I, I specifically didn't go to any of the protests, but, um, we, we did see a lot of the community feedback and then oftentimes the committee will reach out to us and let us know, uh, if they saw something they thought was maybe could have been handled better, um, both their share their feedback with us. And we'll usually do a little bit research to figure out if things could have been done different. Speaker 5: 23:42 What has been the response that you've gotten from San Diego police far, Speaker 9: 23:46 Uh, for the project sponsor? We haven't heard back yet. Um, I know the PO the recommendations just went out last week. It usually will take them a little while to, to review kind of digest what we're asking for. Um, and then they'll usually do a formal written response. Um, as one thing that we've shared with everyone, our recommendations are, are public. We put them up on our website and the response received back from the police department will be, uh, put up on the website as well. So, um, I hope to hear back from them soon. Um, I haven't heard back yet, but I'm sure they're reviewing our recommendations and we'll have some, some feedback for you Speaker 5: 24:17 In your first recommendation. You say that the current protest policy reads more as strictly crowd control rather than the facilitation of first amendment protected activities. Can you tell me more about that? Speaker 9: 24:28 Sure. One of the things, um, you know, obviously when we looked at policies from around the country, Washington DC, you know, CU has a very, very detailed policy. It's, you know, over a hundred pages. Um, I, I don't think San Diego needed to go quite to that level, but I think it's important that, um, people who do want to use their first minute rights to protest that they know what they can and can't do. Um, and this policy, I think really talks more about if the police department has decided that something is, is now an unlawful assembly, how the police department responds, and I think that's important, but I think what's also important is it needs to be clear what the community can do during a protest activity. And, uh, the department, I think in the past has done a pretty good job of trying to facilitate a peaceful activities. Speaker 9: 25:07 It's just, we want more clarity on when the department has decided something is not a peaceful assembly, um, how they respond, what it takes to get to that level, and then, you know, how the community can respond. One of the things that, you know, we were a little bit concerned about is, you know, I think this is a good first step for some of the policy that they've created. There's a little too much ambiguity for us. Um, I think there's certain areas where it basically says, you know, a dispersal order will be given, but it doesn't really currently provide a lot of feedback on that of how many, how long, how many minutes do people have to depart a scene before, uh, you know, officers might go in and we want to see that clarity, because I think that's important for the community to know what the expected expectations of them are. Uh, before something escalates, when it gets out of control Speaker 5: 25:50 San Diego police officials have often cited unruly behavior of protesters as the main reason that things escalate into violence, maybe throwing rocks or bottles. Do you think that this is a fair assessment? Speaker 9: 26:01 You know, it's always, I think it's a, it's a difficult situation. Obviously. I think the citizens need to be protected. Officers need to be protected. Um, I think it's, you have to look at the total situation to determine if the response from the police department is appropriate. Um, you know, I'm making a story up here, but if someone crumbles up paper and throws it up as not at an officer, does that justify response of someone, you know, an officer using a chemical agent in, in retaliation? Well, we would probably argue, no. Um, you know, if protestors are throwing rocks or things like that, you know, does that justify a response from the deployment, the department within their, their use of force? Yeah, that's, that's possibly something that would be appropriate, but we want to see clarity on all that. And we, that it should Speaker 10: 26:44 Be a open and transparent piece. So the department is letting the committee know exactly what will happen and when, and why. I've been speaking with Brandon helper, chair of the interim commission on police practices in the city of San Diego. Brandon, thanks for joining us. No problem. Thanks for having me Speaker 1: 27:07 Gonzaga and Baylor will battle for the NCAA championship on the basketball court tonight. Meanwhile, there is a different battle happening in the Supreme court, and that battle is overcompensation for student athletes and whether or not the NCAA is violating antitrust laws by limiting how much compensation student athletes can receive. This is all part of a big effort to change a billion dollar sports industry that pays players, nothing, California galvanized the effort with the fair pay to play act legislation, San Diego, attorney Lynn Simon, who is also an adjunct law professor at USD, specializing in sports and law help to craft Lynn, welcome to the show. Speaker 10: 27:48 Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Speaker 1: 27:50 So can you remind us of California's fair pay to play act and how it's evolving? Speaker 10: 27:56 Sure. California's bill passed about a year ago, but doesn't come into effect until January of 2023 requires that all colleges in California state schools and private schools allow their athletes to monetize their names, images, and likenesses. So it doesn't require the schools to pay them any salaries or anything, but it requires the schools to get out of the way and let them earn money on the side from, uh, advertising summer camps, anything they want, that's prohibited by NCAA rules, but California is taking a different position. Speaker 1: 28:32 And last week, the Supreme court heard arguments over whether or not the NCAAs limits for student athletes violates antitrust laws. The NCAA faced some skepticism from justices during arguments. Can you talk about that? Speaker 10: 28:46 The NCAA lost this case in the trial court and the appellate court, although the courts didn't change the NCAA system that much, but the NCA went to the Supreme court, almost offended that they had to answer these kinds of questions and asked for special treatment. I asked to be treated very differently than for example, the NFL or the NBA would be treated in antitrust cases against them, which are relatively frequent or at least not unusual. And they didn't get much sympathy. The argument that the NCA is special and needs special rules got nowhere. And the courts pretty much said, go talk to Congress if you want a special. Speaker 1: 29:24 And when lawyers representing athletes presented their case, they too faced skepticism. What was the concern from justices there? Speaker 10: 29:31 I think their concern was that the NCA has been sued twice in the last eight years, both times in federal court and Oakland, both times there was a long, expensive, and both times they lost, but they lost sort of small. And I think the NCA is argument that they're going to be sort of nibbled to death by having an expensive and distracting lawsuit every two or three years for the rest of their existence. Even though they're not, they're not losing big, big issues in this case, did get the court's attention. A court doesn't want the federal court to micromanage the NCAA and to micromanage college sports. And it, I think was hoping the system would work like it used to, which is the NCAA or the NFL, but they might get sued every 10 years about something big. So that's the concern too many cases. Speaker 1: 30:18 Hmm. You know, what's so wrong with a pay to play system. And how might that change? The way college sports are played? Speaker 10: 30:25 Well, pay to play is kind of used in two ways. So let me give you a quick two-part answer. I think there's nothing wrong with what California did, which is to allow the students to, to obtain third party payments. I don't see the problem with a Stanford basketball star or a Stanford rower. You never heard of making a lot of money or a little money on the side. That's really not making them a professional athlete and it's not affecting Stanford's budget or title IX or anything else. Uh, and that's why California took that step. And didn't go further. Um, on the other hand, if you ask the schools to pay the, the college pay, the students salaries, you get into a huge battle over how much and to whom, and you do have a title IX problem. If the basketball stars on the men's team get more than the women's team, all of the men generate more money. So paying them could be exorbitantly expensive, and it could be exorbitantly sensitive and difficult. Speaker 1: 31:25 Just getting by is tough for many college athletes. There's a large percentage of them who live below the poverty line. Can you talk a bit about what life is like for student athletes? Speaker 10: 31:36 Yeah. It's a, it's, it's a very tricky area because you do have students with little or no family support with no family money and they're being dropped on a campus and they've got tuition room board books and maybe a fancy athletic program, but eating, going to the movies, you know, taking a friend to dinner and movies is all, maybe I'll be beyond their means when they're surrounded by fellow students who in some cases worshiped them as stars and they don't have two nickels to rub together. So, uh, there is a sense that particularly with the revenue sport athletes and the stars, but I think all the way down to just the role players, they ought to be getting a cut of what they're generating in some fashion. And Speaker 1: 32:20 How much is the NCAA pulling in Speaker 10: 32:22 Billions and billions, but it it's gotten so expensive to compete that the schools are spending billions and billions and the NCA argues that most of the schools are losing money on sports. Speaker 1: 32:33 Mm. So ultimately, how do you think the court will rule? Speaker 10: 32:37 I think the court is going to rule technically as a legal matter in favor of the athletes, the athletes had a small win in the, in the trial court. They're entitled to more small kinds of compensation from the schools, but it has to be somehow related to their education. It has supplement their educational needs and expenses and not simply be paid for play. And that sounds pretty modest. And I think the court's going to say, that's fine. And then the court is going to write an opinion with some other ideas for the future. And that's where the fight will be. Do they say don't, don't bring us these cases every year, or do they tell the NCAA to go to Congress and ask for help? It's not clear where they go, but I think the last sentence is going to say the opinion of the lower court is affirmed. Speaker 5: 33:21 I've been speaking with Lynn Simon, lawyer and adjunct professor at USD who specializes in sports and law. Lynn, thank you so much for joining us. Speaker 10: 33:30 Thank you again for having me. Speaker 5: 33:43 You're listening to KPBS midday edition. I'm Andrew Bowen with Jade Heineman. Maureen Kavanaugh has the day off getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot can be very emotional. Some people cry with relief. For those who survived HIV, the new found freedom is something they felt before. KQBD science reporter. Leslie McClurg has the story of two gay men in San Francisco celebrating the second time a medical advancement has changed their lives, Speaker 11: 34:10 Even though Jonathan Salinas didn't live through the AIDS crisis, the virus still haunts his generation Speaker 7: 34:17 Growing up as a gay man, HIV should always be in the periphery or around the conversations. Speaker 11: 34:24 About five years ago, Salinas learned about a daily pill called prep. The preventative medication is somewhat analogous to a vaccine for AIDS. Speaker 7: 34:33 As soon as I got on prep, that anxiety, that weight off of my shoulders, just, you know, it lifted almost immediately because I felt empowered. Speaker 11: 34:43 Now. He works for the San Francisco AIDS foundation, educating others about prep as a healthcare worker, Salinas learned he qualified for a COVID 19 vaccine. He has been living in fear of the virus and especially for his family, Speaker 7: 34:57 It's a family of six people living in a two bedroom home. That just terrified me because I know that none of them can take the time off Speaker 11: 35:06 After his second shot, he felt a freedom similar to what he experienced after taking prep for the first time, I Speaker 7: 35:12 Just felt so much hope. Speaker 11: 35:15 Now he can plan to visit his family months have passed since he last saw his parents and siblings, all of whom are essential workers in an agricultural community, South of San Jose, another San Francisco resident named Leo Herrera can relate because my dad is 65. Speaker 5: 35:31 The girl Mexican immigrant cashier, the first wave of death hit people like him this year was the second time her Speaker 11: 35:38 Marrow watched a virus ripped through his community. COVID-19 has disproportionately hit Latinos. And those who identify as LGBTQ. Speaker 7: 35:46 I'm a gay man and I'm 39. So I have a lot of viral trauma from the HIV pandemic. And I'm also a first-generation Mexican immigrant who grew up undocumented. So there's a lot of overlap Speaker 11: 36:00 Between his experience of the two pandemics back in 2012, Herrera was dating a man who was HIV positive that same year prep, the daily pill to prevent HIV hit the market. But just like the vaccine rollout today, access tilted towards affluent communities with good insurance. Speaker 7: 36:18 It took years for prep to be distributed widely to folks of color and forks without health. Speaker 11: 36:24 And just like today, a lot of media focused on unknowns with the pill lead to toxicity, bone density, issues, kidney problems, and the end Herrera took a leap of faith. Speaker 7: 36:35 The first time I had sex without a condom with an HIV positive person was a freedom and a loss of shame and anxiety that was phenomenal. Speaker 11: 36:47 Recently, he received his second COVID-19 shot on his way to the vaccine site. He stopped for gas. A group of people were hanging out inside the station without maps. Speaker 7: 36:57 And I thought, Oh man, I cannot wait for this to be the last time that I have to sort of focus on what everybody else is doing to take care of me. I can finally take that power back. Speaker 11: 37:09 Herrera is looking forward to the time when we're all vaccinated and he's at a wedding reception or a bar. And without thinking he hugs a stranger for the first time Speaker 7: 37:17 And the hug is going to go on for a beat too long. And you're going to hold on to that stranger. And you're both going to realize what that hug means Speaker 11: 37:27 For Herrera. It'll Mark his second victory against a deadly virus Speaker 1: 37:33 From KQBD science reporter. Leslie McClurg Harvey shields has worked with some of the Bay area's best professional athletes like Jerry Rice and Barry bonds. He's also someone people turn to when they're recovering from injuries. So when the pandemic hit and clients started asking for help with lingering COVID symptoms, shields switched gears and has been doing video sessions with people to train them in deep breathing techniques. The California reports producer Amanda font has his story. Speaker 8: 38:13 [inaudible] first one I really started working with was the 49ers Jerry, as in hall of Famer, Jerry Rice, very DS justice, Apolo, a lot of the offense and defensive players. Harvey shields has been working with professional athletes for years, San Francisco giants players like Barry bonds and Willie McCovey Speaker 12: 38:38 You whistle Olympic ski team gold medalist peek-a-boo street, but his clients also include the former King of Tonga and Costco warehouse workers, because Harvey is not the guy you call in. If you're trying to bulk up, Speaker 13: 38:52 What I do is not a personal trainer. My, my title is a corrective exercise specialist. Speaker 12: 38:58 He tries to prevent injuries by watching how people move their posture and making adjustments. And if they do end up hurt, he's there to help them recover. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit people close to Harvey started to get sick. Speaker 13: 39:12 I haven't had it myself. I've had friends of mine. And I think that also affected me. I had friends of mine that was in Mississippi, that died from the COVID. Speaker 12: 39:22 Then he started getting calls from clients, struggling with COVID symptoms that just wouldn't go away. Speaker 13: 39:27 And you're going to take on staff, come back up to here, take him out. They asked me to see what I could do to help them. Then I started helping. I said, ha, this is something that will work. And when you bring it on down, you want to eat breed with it ready? Speaker 12: 39:45 He started doing online sessions from his home in Menlo park. He charges clients based on their needs and how much time he spends with them. Speaker 13: 39:53 I came up with a different approach and debriefing some of the people that I've been working with, you know, they still have these residuals have to six months after having an initial, having a COVID and bringing it down. And we're like, so what did you feel when you were still in that? Speaker 14: 40:09 My shoulder feels better, feels looser and my chest is warm and stretch. Speaker 13: 40:16 Exactly. So you could feel it more. You feel it now open in and out, right? Speaker 14: 40:21 I had probably almost every symptom that there was the worst symptoms for me was a fever, a constant fever that would just never go away. Speaker 12: 40:34 Joni Gerado has been a preschool teacher for 32 years. Even during the pandemic, she says she wasn't super worried about working with kids, but in mid December she got COVID and it hit her hard. Speaker 14: 40:47 It's like, there's a band around your chest. And it's just sucking in your, Speaker 12: 40:53 She says things were pretty touch and go for a while. Joanie called the emergency room a few times when she was really struggling to breathe. Speaker 14: 41:00 My oxygen levels had deteriorated. I think I was thinking my lowest was 91 92. Um, they say to come in around 90, Speaker 12: 41:09 But her 17 year old daughter, Hannah also had COVID and she says she didn't want to leave her alone. So she toughed it out with the constant fever and aches. She was hardly able to sleep. Speaker 14: 41:21 I got a call from Harvey on a Saturday night. It was, it was probably the sixth night Speaker 12: 41:27 Joni met Harvey. About 10 years ago when his daughter was enrolled in her preschool in Menlo park, she's moved to Folsom, but the two are still in touch. When he found out she was sick, he called her wanting to help. Speaker 14: 41:40 Then I was like, no, you can call me tomorrow. Like, I really don't feel good. And he was like, Nope, get up. Speaker 12: 41:45 Harvey convinced her to get onto her computer so he could teach her some exercises to help open up her lungs. And Joanie says she felt bad. Speaker 13: 41:53 So what'd you do you want to? But it's a slow, Speaker 14: 41:57 It's kind of amazing. My, my oxygen level went back up. I think it was about 95, 96 after like 20 minutes. And that night was the first night that I actually liked Speaker 13: 42:08 Up to here. You're going to tick it out slowly. Speaker 12: 42:11 During their video sessions, Harvey usually stands in his backyard, surrounded by trees. He demonstrates the movement slowly, checking in with Joanie to see how she's feeling. Sometimes Joanie's daughter, Hannah joins. She runs track and Harvey wants to make sure she doesn't have any lasting effects. Joanie says part of what makes her feel better. It's just who he is. He's reassuring and intuitive. Speaker 13: 42:35 You got to feel the connection. Watching me feel my energy, allow my energy in your energy connect Eddie. Speaker 14: 42:43 And he's just like a kind caring human being who has taught at an early age to just give back to others. Speaker 12: 42:53 That's kind of Harvey's personal philosophy. Speaker 13: 42:55 Greatest success in the world is being in a position to help someone else. Speaker 12: 42:59 Harvey grew up in a small town in Lewisville, Mississippi. He says, even though his family didn't have a lot, his mother and father still did what they could to help people in their community. Speaker 13: 43:09 And my mother would always, always told me that it's not about you. It's about helping others. That was the most important thing that you should be focusing on. Even though we was poor that she said that there was always someone out there was worst off than you. Speaker 12: 43:23 Harvey says his mother's lesson is a big part of the reason he's doing what he's doing. Now. Speaker 13: 43:28 Someone asked me, what's the difference between helping a professional athlete prepare for the super bowl and what you're doing. And I told him that preparing a person for the super bowl, if they don't win the super bowl, they have next year to try to win again. But these people don't have that next year to worry about. They have to make sure this is done now to make sure that they're able to survive now, because next year not promised to them. Speaker 12: 43:53 He wants to give people hope so they can keep fighting and get better. That story came from the California reports, producer, Amanda font,