More rain heading to San Diego area, but clearing expected by weekend

Speaker 1: (00:01)

San Diego braces for another winter storm.

Speaker 2: (00:03)

We've now had four different storms roll through since Christmas

Speaker 1: (00:07)

Eve. I'm Jade Henman with Christina Kim, Maureen is off. This is KPBS midday edition. A deep dive into the paid experts used to exonerate police departments. When someone dies in custody, the research

Speaker 3: (00:32)

Here is really focused on defending the officers. Um, when a death does occur

Speaker 1: (00:39)

The mental health of parents under the, a weight of pandemic stressors and reclaiming our stories in the time of COVID and uprising that's ahead on midday edition. There are weather at each corner of the country. Right now. It's been a rainy week here in San Diego, in a rainy December and tonight. Another storm is expected to arrive in San Diego county bringing even more precipitation joining me with the details on this latest round of storms is national weather service meteorologist Alex tardy. Alex, welcome.

Speaker 2: (01:23)

Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 1: (01:24)

So there's a winter storm warning in effect for our mountain areas. What should, what should we

Speaker 2: (01:29)

Expect? Yeah, yet another Pacific storm is going to be moving through our area tonight through Thursday. So it seems like an endless series of storms. And it really has been since Christmas Eve, we've now had add four different storms roll through since Christmas Eve. So this particular storm is colder than what we saw around Christmas time. So we expect snow in the mountains again, and that snow will pile up significantly up around 6,000 feet. Hmm.

Speaker 1: (02:00)

Uh, you know, snow in the mountains. What should a other areas of the county expect to see?

Speaker 2: (02:06)

Well, we think when the storm pushes closer to us late tonight and on Thursday, some of the rain will be coming into our coastal cities. It'll be heavy. Um, and what I mean by heavy is enough. Rain will it'll cause some urban flooding it'll cause the water to run hard down the street eats and of course in your neighborhood as well. So that type of rain, um, in some cases can be dangerous because you can have large areas where the water is standing or ponding. And it comes to be a situation where it's not just hydro planting. Um, but some of the roads could be impasable from the local heavy rain along the coast.

Speaker 1: (02:44)

What it's causing this current weather.

Speaker 2: (02:47)

Well, that's a great question. You know, all these storms have been coming down from the north. Uh, the weather pattern has set in place that the door opened up and all these storms have been coming down directly from the north, meaning from Western Canada, Alaska. Now originally the storms tapped into atmospheric river tropical moisture. So they were milder storms around Christmas, uh, and equally wet, uh, the storm coming in now. And the one that we just had recently is coming down directly from the north and they're not atmosph rivers, but they're almost as effective in terms of bringing significant rain to Southern California. And how long

Speaker 1: (03:25)

Will this current storm last? And when can we expect to see full days of sunshine? Again,

Speaker 2: (03:33)

All this current storm that's just developing now off our coast will really be effect us tonight when we're sleeping. And then especially all day Thursday, I, unfortunately Thursday looks like a washout for our coastal areas and this rain will move inland across the valleys and foothills. And of course, snow in the mountains like we talked about. So I don't think we'll be back to any type of sunshine and it might be limited still until Friday and new year's Eve. So the good news is we'll see drying as we go into the

Speaker 1: (04:04)

Weekend. Oh, you should see my face right now. um, but here's maybe a silver lining. We've had storm after storm this month and a lot of rain. Where are we at in terms of rain totals for the year? Yeah,

Speaker 2: (04:18)

We're really doing well statewide in California. It's easy to forget about the drought when it rains this much, most of the state now is at a hundred percent where they should be for this time of year. A lot of the Northern part of California is 150 to 200% or two times as wet as it should be this time of year. So we just saw 10 feet of snow fall in lake Tahoe over the past 10 days. Remarkable. Right? Um, all of this means that we're setting up very well to improving, not ending, but improving our drought conditions significantly. Mm.

Speaker 1: (04:57)

Is the amount of rain we've gotten this month, abnormal well for

Speaker 2: (05:01)

The San Diego area, we'll right about where we should be, but we have another significant storm coming in on Thursday. So I think after that storm, we can start talking about abnormal rain. Even for the San Diego area. December is typically a wet month. We should average about two inches of rain, but after tomorrow storm, most areas will be over that. ,

Speaker 1: (05:22)

We're always glad to hear that we're getting rain since we're often in a drought, but what does this mean for fire season?

Speaker 2: (05:29)

Yeah, so it's seems so long ago, but the month of November was dry across all of Southern California, no rain and our fire weather conditions were extreme. Now we were lucky we didn't have many starts in starts that did occur. They were able to put them out. So the fire season is on hold right now. So it's over with right now, but we have a long winter to go. And the last thing we wanna see is after all this rain in December is to have a dry warm spring. And there is the potential for that, a dry warm spring, and that can set fire season early in the year. And with all this rain, it means a lot of things are gonna be growing. The grass is the flowers, the weeds. So fire weathers in the back of our mind right now, but the forecast is not necessarily looking positive as we go into the spring.

Speaker 1: (06:20)

I've been speaking with national weather service, meteorologist Alex tardy, Alex, thank you so much for your insight. Thanks

Speaker 2: (06:27)

So much for having me on happy holidays.

Speaker 4: (06:40)

A new investigation by the New York times published earlier this week, took a closer look at the growing network of paid experts, doctors and researchers used to defend police departments. Whenever a person dies in police custody and the cause of death. Isn't clear reporter Jennifer Valentina and her colleagues scoured over 25,000 pages of court documents and conducted over 30 interviews to make sense of why time and time again, the same experts, including a San Diego emergency doctor, Dr. Gary VI kept popping up and providing to testimony that absolved police officers of guilt, what they found is what they're calling a cottage industry of exoneration. Jennifer Valentina, Devrees the investigations lead reporter joins me now for more on what they found. Welcome, Jennifer,

Speaker 3: (07:33)

Thanks so much for having me, as

Speaker 4: (07:35)

I mentioned, you poured through documents after you kept seeing certain names like Dr. Gary V routinely show up in court proceedings. How exactly do these medical experts, exonerate police officers when people die in custody? Sure.

Speaker 3: (07:50)

Well, a lot of, um, what they do is conduct research that they say supports the idea that certain police techniques, um, such as face down restraint, where you're pushing someone into the ground or multiple shocks with an electrical weapon, like a taser that these don't present a risk and they conduct this research on volunteers. And it's a very different situation from what you might find out on the street when these arrests or detainments are actually happening. And then they use that research to say that they have scientifically demonstrated that these techniques are safe and are not going to kill people. Um, and so they say it must have been something else, um, that was responsible for the person's death.

Speaker 4: (08:39)

Your report mentions that a lot of medical doctors say that this line of thinking is somewhat of a bias science. What did you hear from expert interviews about the science behind these type of testimonies that alleged that neck holds don't kill people,

Speaker 3: (08:55)

Right? When we spoke with not just other medical doctors, but actually medical doctors who have also conducted similar research in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, what they found was that these restraint techniques in the risk of death by a slight amount. So, you know, we're not arguing that if you put somebody face down, you know, they're going to die, but the other researchers will look at the, the data on this and see that, well, it increases the, the risk. And so what they do is they train officers in the United Kingdom not to do these things. And, you know, they just have a different way of looking at it. The research here is really focused on defending the officers, um, when a death does occur and, um, elsewhere, it's, it's focused on limiting risk for people who might be interacting with the police.

Speaker 4: (09:57)

Were you able to reach out to Dr. Gary V or other paid experts? And what did they say about your findings and that differentiation you're making between, you know, what UK doctors are saying and the science that you're seeing being presented here in the United States?

Speaker 3: (10:11)

Well, they did not engage a lot with our questions. They said they disagreed when we showed them our findings indicating that they had worked on behalf of the, the police frequently. They stuck to their guns really and said that, well, their research showed that this wasn't dangerous and they just dis agreed with the research, um, indicating that there was a risk. Um, it's funny, like what they will say. So they conduct these studies and we'll just use face down restraint. As an example, their research does show that there is an effect on breathing even on normal people. Um, but what they say is that this would be enough, the effect on breathing in a normal person would not be enough to, you know, get you, um, looked at in the hospital, but what the other researchers say is that, yeah, that's true. But if you add onto it, you know, sort of panic situation or other things that might be occur during the arrest, you can pretty quickly add up to this, having an effect beyond

Speaker 4: (11:23)

The courtroom. Your investigation found that this network of paid experts is really part of a greater police ecosystem made up of law enforcement agencies, companies, and organizations like axon, which makes tasers and LOL that helps write policies for police departments, as well as those experts and researchers, can you break down how this larger kind of network or ecosystem works?

Speaker 3: (11:45)

These researchers are just a, a small part of, um, an ecosystem that, um, involves training and, um, equipment for law enforcement. And the very large ecosystem is quite lucrative. You know, the, this little corner that we're looking at, um, the, the fees are, are quite a lot. I mean, they're making like 500 a thousand dollars an hour. So for these individuals, it's considerable really, there are a number of, of companies that, um, provide products to law enforcement, all sorts of, of systems and trainings and policy writing. And that can become quite lucrative. You know, millions of dollars, obviously, you know, axon is a, a large company. Um, that's providing tasers as well as body cameras and, and so forth. And this industry they're trying to sell things to police officers. And I, you know, I think it's tough to sell to a group of, of people if you're gonna be telling them that, well, what you're doing might be harming people. It all becomes part of a, a sort of echo chamber. What

Speaker 4: (12:53)

Do you want readers and listeners to take away from your investigation? So knowing that this network and how it's working, how can we use this information to better understand future investigations or even just the news. When we do hear about deaths in police custody,

Speaker 3: (13:10)

You know, I think these deaths are really complicated. And, um, for me, the takeaway was really in speaking with experts elsewhere and even police representatives, um, elsewhere kind of their attitude toward policing just seemed different in that they were really focused on limiting risk, not just cuz they were scared of liability, but because they were not, they were very focused on not having people die. You know, even if those people are on drugs or having some sort of episode of mental illness, you know, they weren't really putting the blame as much on those other people. They were concerned about limiting risk to them. I would be really interested in seeing additional research in the us that takes a closer look at what is causing, um, these deaths, not with an eye toward finding something besides, you know, the, the police actions, you know, in looking to what is actually when people are restrained face down after a struggle and have their body put in a certain position so that we don't do that.

Speaker 4: (14:25)

I've been speaking with Jennifer Valentina, Dre, investigative reporter at the New York times. Thank you so much and more reporting to come I'm sure. Thank you.

Speaker 4: (14:46)

This is KPBS midday edition. I'm Cina Kim in for Marine Kavanaugh. As we heard earlier in the show, California is having a wet December. That's improving our drought conditions, but not ending. Our drought water is always of concern in our state, especially groundwater all the HTO beneath our feet stored in soil sand and rock formations. These aquifers are critical to the state's to water supply, but in places like the central valley, they've also been over exploited in the last few decades, causing some aquifers to run dangerously low and the land to buckle and sink in response, the state and local water agencies are moving forward with a massive groundwater rescue plan, California report hosts, Saul Gonzalez spoke with K V P R reporter care Klein about this here's that interview.

Speaker 5: (15:34)

So tell me more about groundwater and its importance to California, both in urban and rural areas.

Speaker 6: (15:41)

So in California, we really have two main sources of water and that's water for agriculture, for drinking for, for everything that we use it for. You know, the first is what's called surface water that comes from rain and snow. And we store as much of that as we can in reservoirs. And then it's distributed throughout the state in this massively engineered system of AUCs and canals that we've set up here. But as we know, well in California, precipitation is unreliable and in drought years, when there's not enough surface water to go around big water users turn instead to these underground aquifers for water. And that groundwater use has been largely unmanaged and unmonitored for the entire history of California. Anyone with a well can pull up an unlimited amount of water for their home, for their businesses for entire cities. And so over time we've been vastly overdrafting, those aquifers and each year we out some one or 2 million acre feet more than we replenish.

Speaker 5: (16:37)

So in response to this crisis, the state is trying to implement something called the sustainable groundwater management act or Sigma. Can you explain what that is?

Speaker 6: (16:48)

Yeah. It's a suite of state laws that were passed in 2014 under governor Jerry Brown. And the goal is to balance out this groundwater use to balance the amount that we're pumping with, the amount that we put back in through recharge and O other sorts of projects. It's given a very long timeline. The plan is to achieve sustainability 20 years from now in 2042. And where we are right now is that there are lots of, you know, local agencies who emitting groundwater sustainability plans to the state. They submitted those two years ago. And they're beginning to get feedback on whether their plans are good enough to be approved for the rest of the Sigma timeline.

Speaker 5: (17:24)

So you've been looking into some of these local cases. Is there anything specific that water officials on the ground say needs to be fixed?

Speaker 6: (17:33)

So to be a cap where we are so far, the state department of water resources or DWR, they're sort of in charge of implementing Sigma they've returned comments on a few dozen of these sustainability plans in Northern California, central valley and the central coast, only a small handful of them have been approved so far. And the rest the state has pointed out deficiencies that need to be addressed before they can be approved. And one of the big themes is that the state doesn't feel that these plans will adequately protect water quality or keep Wells from running dry. So for instance, one example in Fresno county, one plan stipulate that as many as 25% of its Wells could run dry before undesirable results occur. So this was one of the issues I spoke about with Paul Golan. He's a deputy director with DWR and the head of the office reviewing these plans.

Speaker 7: (18:23)

What would want is to have them analyze better how they believe that any number Wells going dry without any mitigation measures could be considered, uh, not significant and

Speaker 6: (18:35)

Unreasonable among other issues. These plans were also dinged for not adequately addressing subsidence, which of course can damage infrastructure. Like we already said. So

Speaker 5: (18:44)

How are local water agencies responding to calls for changes to their sustainability plans?

Speaker 6: (18:50)

So I've not been able to speak with all of these sustainability agencies yet. They're presumably scrambling to address these deficiencies. But I did get to speak with representatives of two of them. Both were actually pretty positive. You know, they say that DWR has been a pleasure to work with so far that although they're calling for a lot of changes, making those changes, won't be impossible. For instance, there's Eric off. He manages a sustainability agency in Tula county and he said they anticipated needing to make a lot of changes. It's just a part of the process, but his agency is important because Tula county was ground zero for Wells running dry during the last drought. And he says, yes, maintaining drinking water is a priority for them. We will

Speaker 8: (19:29)

Be turning around and putting together a well mitigation program. So those Wells that are impacted from the continued decline of groundwater and potentially would be susceptible to going drive. We're hoping to help mitigate those kinds of

Speaker 6: (19:43)

Concerns. I also spoke with Shelly Cartwright who's with Westland's water district Westlands is important because it's the largest irrigation district in the country. And the sustainability agency that it manages covers nearly a thousand square miles of abundant ag land Cartwright also agreed that drinking water is important for them though her agency and the state actually disagree about how many communities are served by groundwater in their coverage area.

Speaker 5: (20:08)

Why is Sigma and this state master plan to deal with ground and water important for residents in communities, be it in the central valley or other parts of, of California.

Speaker 6: (20:18)

A lot of places get their drinking water from the ground and not from this surface water. A lot of smaller, more rural communities have more vulnerable systems. You know, they have maybe shallow or Wells, or they have few backup Wells. Many of them have lots of homes with individual domestic Wells. And so if the water table falls too low from this overdraft, these Wells can run dry or become contaminated with pollutants. And so under Sigma sustainability agencies are supposed to be taking these public supply Wells into consideration, but many advocates have been concerned from the start that community voices are being drowned out by louder ag voices with deeper pockets.

Speaker 4: (20:55)

That was K V P R reporter Carrie Klein speaking with California report host SA Gonzalez.

Speaker 1: (21:06)

The us surgeon general issued a public health advisory earlier this month on children's mental health and how COVID 19 pandemic hardships have played a role in the emerging crisis. The advisory is a call to shift parenting and underscores the increased rate of depression and anxiety being diagnosed in children. We've seen schools go back and forth between virtual and in-person learning child mask requirements, extracurricular activities canceled and much more during this pandemic. So how has all of this change in routine affected parents while trying to juggle work and keep their home life afloat and children healthy. Joining me to talk about how all these changes and pandemic stressors have impacted the mental health of parents as parenting expert. Dr. Jenny yip, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the ke school of medicine at USC. She is also the founder of renewed freedom center. Dr. Yip. Welcome.

Speaker 9: (22:05)

Thanks so much for having me Jade.

Speaker 1: (22:07)

So what are you seeing in your clinic? I mean, have more parents reported mental and physical health declines since the start of this pandemic?

Speaker 9: (22:16)

Absolutely. Both parents and children alike. We have been inundated with more patients than what we can handle and I'm sure this is true for all mental health professionals in the entire country or even perhaps the world, but yes, anxiety, depression, suicide though. Ideation are all skyrocketing for both parents and children alike.

Speaker 1: (22:40)

So has the approach to addressing those issues changed during this pandemic?

Speaker 9: (22:45)

Well, the treatment hasn't changed, the treatment is still the same. I think what has changed is helping parents navigate the stressors from the pandemic and helping them to regain some level of sanity with all of the uncertainties that exist in the world.

Speaker 1: (23:04)

So what are some of the negative impacts the pandemic has had on parents over the past two years?

Speaker 9: (23:09)

Oh my well , I am a parent myself. So I certainly know what that is like and not knowing how to handle the, the stressors on the school's closing or your children being ill and infected or not having the social opportunities that they would have at school. And then most importantly, it's juggling your children being at home, trying to get them on, you know, zoom classes, which doesn't help very much. And isn't a very effective, it is a huge challenge and most parents they're still working and they're working from home. So imagine trying to do this again, after having been through this for the last, uh, 20 months, it's definitely a struggle.

Speaker 1: (23:57)

How have pandemic stressors had a different impact on parents with younger children versus parents with teens and young adults? For example,

Speaker 9: (24:05)

There's definitely different stressors for families with younger children versus those with teenagers or older children, for families with younger children, you know, the stressors surrounds more of juggling, juggling multiple tasks and trying to keep your screaming children in front of a computer for eight hours, a two a while. You're trying to run errands, get household tasks done, uh, perhaps even continue working from home. And that juggle adds a huge stressor because it limits your available time to attend to the things that you need to get done. Now that's, uh, different than parent with older children where some of the complaints that we've been getting at the renewed freedom center from these families is that they cannot get their kids to practice safety protocols such as wearing masks or limiting social engagements or keeping, you know, a distance, um, not being indoors so much. Um, so it's a constant battle and the stressors are different, but the more important thing is being able to find creative ways to tackle these problems. So maybe for the older children, it's, you know, asking your, your kids to find three friends that they trust. And these are the three that they maintain the social engagements with. And then for the younger families, um, it might be sharing some of these tasks with other families who are in a similar situation. So perhaps one family, you know, gets all the kids together for zoom class, uh, one day and we switch and what

Speaker 1: (25:46)

Are resources you can give to help parents feeling overwhelmed during these times?

Speaker 9: (25:52)

The most important thing is self care. I know this is a huge topic in the last 20 months though, when you are experiencing this high level of stress for such a prolonged period of time, it is so easy to, or no. So taking the little things that matter whether it is, you know, taking a bath or even giving yourself five minutes to just breathe, just finding those little things that you can do to get a breather. And then if you really feel like you are breaking apart, you feel, you know, you're at your ins of what you have available. You don't have any more bandwidth available, then perhaps it's time to find additional help. Now additional help could be family members. It could be friends, um, but it could also be professional help. So, you know, finding a therapist and making sure that the therapist that you find is someone who has dealt with anxiety or depression. So some resources I direct parents to is the anxiety and depression association of America. I also direct parents to the international OCD foundation because during the pandemic, the rates of obsessive compulsive disorder has just magnified and has become a lot more, uh, excessive. So those are the two resources that I always direct parents to.

Speaker 1: (27:20)

I've been speaking with Dr. Jean yip and assist clinical professor of psychiatry at the ke school of medicine at USC. Also founder of renewed freedom center. She is a parenting expert doctor. Yip. Thank you so much for joining

Speaker 9: (27:35)

Us. Thanks for having me

Speaker 4: (27:41)

Throughout the year. We get to profile Deakins who are making a difference in October KBB S education reporter mg Perez introduces to a high school student who is also a member of the San Diego unified school board.

Speaker 10: (27:55)

Did he actually work with his father or was that an indirect connect? That's a great

Speaker 11: (27:59)

Question. Zachary Patterson is a student who likes to ask lots of questions on this day. The questions come in, miss UARS English literature class at university city high school. Zachary is a senior and like many of his classmates preparing for graduation. He's stressed.

Speaker 10: (28:17)

I'm in AP classes, I'm a student that's working hard, but hands down, you know, it takes a toll on my mental health. It does to take a toll on me being able to do this. I guess I do

Speaker 11: (28:27)

It cuz I love it. He's not just talking about class assignments. Zachary has another love

Speaker 12: (28:32)

Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name.

Speaker 10: (28:37)

I Zachary Patterson

Speaker 11: (28:38)

In June, he was sworn in for a second term as the student member of the San Diego unified school district board of Cindy Martin, the former superintendent and current us deputy secretary of education did the honor online. Zachary says she's one of his mentors.

Speaker 10: (28:56)

I would love to be able to go to DC, maybe work, uh, in the department of education with my old superintendent and my good friend, Cindy Martin. I think that would be an incredible opportunity to

Speaker 11: (29:05)

Experience for now. He's committed to serve the more than 100,000 students in the San Diego district. He is the first ever student board member, a position he started campaigning for in seventh grade with the help of others. He created a student advisory board first, before being elected to the school board in 2019, I

Speaker 10: (29:25)

Get to speak as a board member, but in the end, 95% of my experiences are formed right here on my campus in talking to students in that relationship that I have not as a board member to constituent, but as student to student, as peer to peer what's the program they use is it like Raz kids, but we we're using Raz kids. Uh, is there a program for

Speaker 11: (29:48)

Zachary is fluent in Spanish, which was helpful on the tour of the Longfellow K eight dual language immersion program. The tour is where he collects information and concerns from students and administrators to take back to the school board. Along with campus tours, there are press conferences, too.

Speaker 10: (30:05)

If we get vaccinated, if we stay strong, we send a message that we believe in science

Speaker 11: (30:11)

A month ago. Zachary was the board member who proposed lowering the age of the COVID vaccination mandate for students as young as 12 years old, following the science and lead of the Los Angeles and Oakland school districts. He is also responsible for creation of a student bill of rights and leading the effort to add a mental health curriculum for students. Zachary says competing on his high school cross country team helps his mental health. Along with meditation. I always see

Speaker 13: (30:40)

Zachary as a student

Speaker 11: (30:41)

First Mike bytes is the new principal of university city high school who first met Zachary on a zoom call and noticed his leadership skills beaming through the screen right away. I'm

Speaker 13: (30:52)

Amazed by his ability to navigate the way he does, uh, between the adult world and then come back to school and just be a kid, but he does it with ease. He does it like I see a and

Speaker 11: (31:02)

Veteran. He won't be a teacher, but wants to study education policy and how he can improve it. He's already made his mark according to school board, president Richard Burrera,

Speaker 14: (31:13)

Everyone who runs for this office in the future and serves in this office in the future is, uh, going to have now is confidence. Um, from your example,

Speaker 11: (31:22)

Zachary closed his remarks. After being sworn in with this statement, we

Speaker 15: (31:27)

Deserve an education system that is for the students and by the students. And I promise that I'm gonna spend every day that I serve on the sport of education and beyond fighting for just that.

Speaker 11: (31:38)

That is something, no one questions, mg Perez, KPBS news.

Speaker 1: (31:48)

If you came face to face with a rattlesnake on your property, what would you do? Who would you call a Powerway man wants his community to call him if or more likely win. They find a rattlesnake on their property, but as K PBS's Maya triple see found out in this story from October relocating live rattlesnakes is not quite as simple or legal as some might think. You

Speaker 16: (32:13)

Know, part of the perks I like about being a handyman is that you work in different locations

Speaker 17: (32:18)

Every day, whether it's painting drywall or carpentry, Powerway handyman, Patrick Brady does it all, but he's also known as someone else morning is pat to the residents in his community. He is trapper pat. I am a mom who noticed a baby rattle state and they've been relying on him to do what most people would. Not sure there's not one in there catch rattlesnakes.

Speaker 16: (32:41)

Once everybody found out about it, everybody seemed to have the word trapper pat, on the tip of their tongues all the time, I would go places in the trapper pad.

Speaker 17: (32:49)

He answers the calls day or night and prides himself on being where he's needed in a matter of minutes, all free of charge.

Speaker 16: (32:56)

Now I should tell myself all the time today to day, he are gonna get bit. And I tell myself, no, I'm not getting bit today. You know, I'm not gonna put myself in a position that I'm gonna get bit. Did you wanna check with some

Speaker 17: (33:05)

More, but Brady doesn't believe rattlesnakes should be killed preferring to relocate them nearby.

Speaker 16: (33:12)

I don't wanna take its life just because of what

Speaker 17: (33:14)

It is. Stories of his brave endeavors echoed their way up to state government letter assembly member. Brian sine thanked him for his work from the beginning of the year. Brady noticed something interesting. Every snake call resulted in the removal of the Northern Pacific rattlesnake. He called the California department of fish and wildlife to share his data. A Lieutenant called him back and that he says is when everything changed. I said,

Speaker 16: (33:39)

Mr. You know, you need to cease, stop what you're doing right now because, uh, you know, you're not qualified to be doing what you're doing. And you know, there's rules and regulations. You're breaking laws in California

Speaker 17: (33:47)

And fearing legal trouble. Brady stopped posting his stories on next door and social media. He took down his website and asked the community not to draw attention to him.

Speaker 16: (33:57)

So there was a lot of things going on that suddenly came to a Hal and I felt bad cause I felt like I was letting the public down. So

Speaker 17: (34:03)

What are the laws when it comes to rattlesnakes to begin with it's perfectly legal to kill any rattlesnake found on your property,

Speaker 18: (34:10)

No license, no permit, no authorization, nothing hidden with the, the flat part of the shovel. And that's gonna do

Speaker 17: (34:16)

The job. Captain Patrick Foy from the department of fish and wildlife says, comes to moving snakes in order to let them go. Never

Speaker 18: (34:23)

Really accounted for the, the person who might think I don't want to kill the rattlesnake. I wanna remove it and take it someplace else and let it go. Now, here we are today. Now we're having a different conversation. So

Speaker 17: (34:33)

California fish and game stipulates, you can take up to two live rattlesnakes per day with no license required in order to release any captured snakes. You need to have the department's written approval. In most cases, this means applying for a scientific collection permit, not a necessarily swift and easy process.

Speaker 18: (34:52)

Yeah. If I could have rewritten that, that law, I probably would've tweaked it a little bit to make some, make some changes to accommodate that type of request.

Speaker 17: (34:59)

Captain Foy says there is some something else to consider. I would not

Speaker 18: (35:04)

Call an unlicensed unbonded uninsured person to my house to remove a rattlesnake. Cuz if that person gets bit, you're gonna

Speaker 17: (35:14)

Own it. But the options are few and almost always mean destroying the snake. Some pest control companies charge hundreds of dollars to answer rattlesnake calls unaffordable. For many,

Speaker 18: (35:25)

They do charge high fees, but they are paying for that insurance. They are paying for that training. We prioritize

Speaker 16: (35:31)

Rattlesnake calls as a priority one for us,

Speaker 17: (35:34)

Chief bill Galey says the San Diego humane society answered almost a thousand rattlesnake calls in the past six months, their team is trained to catch and release nearby

Speaker 19: (35:44)

And we respond within half an hour.

Speaker 17: (35:46)

Considering the volume of rattlesnake calls in the county. He considers Brady to be an ally.

Speaker 19: (35:51)

People say, yeah, he was right here. And he took care of it. And I believe he's, uh, an advocate of you humanely handling and you know, releasing the snake. That's that's a good thing. In our book,

Speaker 17: (36:02)

Pat Brady's case has sparked internal discussion within the department of fish and wildlife. They told K PBS there could be a path for him to continue, which might include working closely with them to find suitable places for release, how easy that path is remains to be seen Maya doing a good thing. You know,

Speaker 19: (36:21)

It is doing a good

Speaker 17: (36:21)

Thing for the community. K PBS news,

Speaker 1: (36:26)

The department of fish and wildlife also told K PBS because of this story, it is considering implementing changes in California code to make it easier for those who wish to relocate rattlesnakes.

Speaker 4: (36:44)

This is KPBS midday edition. I'm kina Kim in for Marine Kavanaugh. If you ask someone what issues have defined the last two years, chances are, they're gonna tell you the pandemic of course, and the racial reckoning that surge after Floyd's murder, these major events and cultural shifts have changed all our lives at the large and micro level. So what stories will we be telling our future selves and generations about this time, a new book reclaiming our stories in the time of COVID and uprising aims to capture some of those stories with a focus on black and brown writers. The book features 13 original essays that capture what it means to live during this time. Joining me to discuss this is one of the editors of this new compilation, Ebony Tyree, Hey Ebony. Hello. As well as contributing writer and community advocate, an Lada Martinez. Hey ANNAA hi Ebony. I wanna start with you. This book's 13 essays really cover a wide range of experiences from the uprisings in LA Mesa last year to being detained in OTA Mesa during the pandemic. Why did you think it was important to put all these narratives and perspectives in conversation with one another,

Speaker 20: (37:57)

Just as in previous, uh, to of reclaiming our stories. We think it's important for the stories and narratives within our communities to be shared and highlighted. Um, and so this addition of reclaiming our stories came together, of course, with that at the heart of it, right? That's the essence of the series. Um, but I think as always, you know, know these, this book is just timestamped, right, as a particular moment, but as community members and folks who love one another, we're always in conversation. We're always talking. And I think Paul Alexander, Paul Lopez and Darius Spearman and Roberta Alexander, we said, you know, we're hearing what's happening in the community. Uh, and we know our folks are out there, um, protesting, having experiences and we should collect them. So we decided that's what we would do, um, because we're always telling our stories and sharing with one another, just because we're in community, we love one another. And we were just thinking of a way, how can we capture this? Um, because we know the stories in our communities are so important to be sharing

Speaker 4: (39:04)

Anna Lada. Your contribution to the collection is called compounded by fear in which you share an intimate story about how you reacted after learning, you had been exposed to COVID 19 as well long, wait for test results. Why did you choose to write about this particular moment?

Speaker 21: (39:20)

So on my end, it was just kind of reflecting like on the first summer during COVID pre vaccines and just the fear and the uncertainty. And for me, I wanted to share something that reflected on that fear, especially as a working class women of color, with bad experiences in medical, industrial complex, and also reflection on how no one is disposable. Um, especially knowing that those most impacted are folks of color, particularly chronically ill and folks with disability

Speaker 4: (39:53)

In your essay. You say, I couldn't help, but wonder if I'm bringing death home. How did you process that fear? That fear that I think is really relatable to so many people in our communities.

Speaker 21: (40:05)

So it was a fear that was debilitating at first and it was a reckoning. Like it's a feeling that I hadn't felt before in that kind of intimate way. So I think that's part of the fear that was like debilitating for me. And that was, that was something that I had a process with family members, but it was really hard just really processing through that. Like have I, have I brought this to someone, right. Especially knowing, you know, pre vaccines. It was so uncertain, like where this would take us. Um, so that fear, that's kind of why I wanted to reflect on that fear. And I wrote, and I just read the, the story for the first time in over a year. So it was unsettling to kind of go revisit that, that moment, those feelings, you

Speaker 4: (40:54)

Said that at the time, a lot of your own fear was compounded by the larger struggle that black and brown communities are facing during this pandemic. Can you say a little bit more about that?

Speaker 21: (41:04)

So by that, I really meant really thinking through how most people being, um, impacted by COVID in terms of dying and contracting or folks who are black, brown, chronically ill people with, and really understanding that these folks, majority of the time don't have access to good medical care.

Speaker 4: (41:25)

Ebony, you didn't just co-edit this book. You also contributed an essay about what it was like parenting during the pandemic while working full time. As a professor, you share a story about your son trying to boil an egg without water, which you say really illuminated the gaps in our lives. Can you tell me a little more about what you meant and why you shared this particular story?

Speaker 20: (41:47)

Well, yes. One, because it was hilarious and very sad at the same time. It was a moment that, you know, I mentioned in the story, you know, maybe I just laughed to, to keep from crying. Uh, and I was actually working on, on the editing this book, I was on a zoom with my colleagues and, you know, I had to show them that the egg that was burned in stove. And I definitely will say that, um, it changed my perspective on my, my children, my, my ideas of mothering, right. What their everyday lives are. Like, I realized that I wasn't, I don't spend that much time with them during the day. And there were so many things I didn't realize about out them. And I feel like, or, or myself as a parent. And, um, I feel like the pandemic, uh, for me was that was just a microcosm of probably many things that we were seeing as lot of pointed out. So many gaps, just even in the medical system. Well, and I, here, I was recognizing the gaps in, in my P parenting. Uh, and how I think to some degree I was, I was neglecting my children who were there because I was also trying to work at the same time,

Speaker 4: (43:02)

Laugh to keep from crying. I know that's something that's relatable to all of us, you know, as we're winding down in the new year, what do you hope people take away from this new book of essays and why do you think they should read it E and then allow that please?

Speaker 20: (43:16)

What I want people to take away? What I would hope they take away from this is just the, the realness, right? What black folks experience indigenous Mexican folks experience in this country every day, but also in this, you know, very, I don't know, pivotal time, how much we are impacted by what's happening. Um, and I think folks should read it because I think everyone can read this and take a story and say, Hey, you know, that was me or someone I knew, uh, during this pandemic. How about you

Speaker 4: (43:50)

And a Lada? Yeah.

Speaker 21: (43:51)

So one of the things I want folks to take away is really thinking through how we must practice radical care. You know, I think of the quote of Gracely bogs of like the only way to survive is by taking care of each other. And this book is really a reflection of those little different glimpses of being, you know, of folks in San Diego and their experiences with COVID. So, but really thinking about like how important community is because we all have navigated very difficult moments. And I just really wanna just appreciate just like Ebony and the rest of the facilitators with pillars of the community, for cultivating community. In a moment, it was so difficult and challenging. I've

Speaker 4: (44:31)

Been speaking with Ebony Tyre, a professor, and co-editor of reclaiming our stories in the time of COVID and uprising and Anna Lada Martinez, a contributing writer and community advocate. Thank you both so much for your time. You're welcome. Thank you so much. Coming up on K P S evening edition at 5:00 PM on KBB S television. How libraries are helping with COVID 19 testing and join us again tomorrow for KBB S midday edition at noon. And if you ever miss a show, you can find the midday edition podcast.