S1: Hey there , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. After historically long and difficult deployment , the USS Lincoln is back in its home port of San Diego. We hear more about what the ship's sailors and marines experienced and the families that welcome them home. For.
S2: Ten months without seeing each other , giving birth without him. Just , you know , a lot of things without him. And then today , finally , the day that he gets to meet his baby.
S1: Then how lockdowns have exacerbated stifling heat for those incarcerated at Donovan State Prison. And we hear from the new voice gracing KPBS airwaves. Each weekday morning , it's coming up on KPBS. Roundtable. Homecomings for sailors and soldiers are not an uncommon sight here in San Diego. But yesterday the focus was on the USS Abraham Lincoln , which returned to port in San Diego after a taxing 322 day deployment to the Middle East. Thousands welcomed the sailors and Marines who served aboard the Lincoln , even including babies meeting their fathers for the first time. Kathy Monterosso was there to greet her husband.
S2: Ten months without seeing each other , giving birth without him. Just , you know , a lot of things without him. And then today , finally , is the day that he gets to meet his baby.
S1: But aside from the emotional reunions , the arrival also brings with it a lot of questions about conditions aboard the ship and the health and well-being of its crew. I'm joined now by a pair of reporters who've been covering this story for months now. Priya Schraeder is a Pentagon reporter with M.S. now. Her reporting first shed a light on concerns aboard the Lincoln. Priya. Welcome back to roundtable.
S3: Thanks so much for having me.
S1: Great to have you here. Andrew Dyer also joins me. Here he is KPBS military and Veterans Affairs reporter. Andrew , thanks for being here. Thank you. So , Andrew , you know , I know you've covered quite a number of these homecomings of , you know , ships after deployments , but yesterday seemed quite a bit different. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Considering we usually go and cover a carrier homecoming. It's a it's usually a nice story. You know , you get these families and the kids , you get great visuals. And you know , it's it's always something that we kind of try to go out and do. Um , usually it's , you know , your local stations that show up , most of them. Um , but yesterday was a lot different. Yeah. There was I don't know how many news outlets there and how many news cameras , but , um , everyone was there. I would just say everyone there , uh , national , local LA stations. It was a lot more than I've seen at any any ship. Homecoming. Um , there was a lot more like. I mean , they had like media wranglers there in white navy uniforms to make sure the press got on onto the base and all of that. It was a much , much bigger production than what we've seen at other even. And then for the families , there was like a whole kind of a carnival set up for , for them , which we also don't usually see at these. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And like , like Andrew mentioned , there was a lot of families there. There were other groups just coming out to kind of , you know , welcome them home. What stood out to you about the arrival , Priya? Yeah.
S3: Yeah. I mean , I think that the reason this deployment drew national and international attention is because it was very unique in comparison to a typical aircraft carrier deployment. Right. When the USS Abraham Lincoln left here in San Diego in on November 21st of last year , it was supposed to go on a standard 6 to 7 month rotation to the Indo-Pacific. But those plans really quickly changed when they were diverted to the Middle East , and then they were one of two aircraft carriers , or carrier strike groups , that were there on the very first airstrikes on Iran on February 28th. And what was particularly notable about this deployment was the fact that they went for 208 straight days without a poor call , and they were involved in these nonstop combat operations. Typically , aircraft carriers stop every 30 to 45 days. And so it was that in combination with what they were actually doing in the Middle East , which was shooting down IRGC drones in the Strait of Hormuz that were threatening commercial shipping , they were enforcing this naval blockade , and they were launching hundreds of airstrikes. It raised a lot of concerns from the family members about the crew's physical exhaustion , potentially leading to even deadly accidents , and also the toll that it was taking on their mental health. And then all of that was exacerbated by the fact that this ship also faced deteriorating conditions when it came to supply shortages. And I think part of the reason that this ship became such a symbol to the whole world of this Iran war is because the press , in particular , have not been getting a lot of access to the people who are running the day to day operations of the war , and also to the people in the administration who are making the decisions to conduct this war. So this was a way , by talking to the families , to get a glimpse of what was actually happening and every story that people like Andrew and I did , I think , really revealed just how big of an impact this war was , having not just on the service members who were being asked to fight in this war , but also it revealed that Iran had really attacked , you know , the Navy's Fifth Fleet logistical hub in Bahrain , which is what was causing a lot of these supply shortages. So it raised a lot of serious questions about how prepared the United States was for this war and what they're going to do , given the fact that now we know the USS Theodore Roosevelt just left from right here in the San Diego area once again to go back to where the USS Lincoln just came home from.
S1: Well , Andrew , right there , you know , Priya was talking about how this deployment was so unique , obviously. Um , you know , a lot of our Navy is used to to taking part in wartime exercises , like being part of a conflict. This is new conflict in Iran , but it's not new. Um , you know , for , for a lot of our military over the past , you know , a couple of decades now. Talk to me more about what makes this deployment so unique. You know , at this time.
S4: Well , in the during like the , the , the global war on terror when we were deploying to Iraq in Afghanistan , um , sometimes our the San Diego based carriers. You know , sometimes they would do west packs , sometimes they would go into Fifth Fleet. But even whenever you were in Fifth Fleet , um , you know , outside of. So I was there on the Kittyhawk in 2003 , and we were running like 18 hour a day flight ops , and it was a lot of work. Um , because when you fly , you break stuff , and when you break stuff , you have to fix it. And so , um , we were really busy working on , on gear all the time. And but that ends. Right. So the airstrikes in Iraq kind of wound down fairly quickly. And , you know , things calmed down and then other deployments out there , even when we were doing ops in Afghanistan , it was like support operations of other things. So it wasn't this constant , um , airstrike focused kind of , uh , engagement , which is what you saw with with the Lincoln and their , their air wing , so I can't imagine how much work was really involved with them running at this type of operational tempo. So that is something that is is very much different from what these sailors may have been used to. And now many of them , it was probably their first deployment anyway. So , um , they may not have , may have just been kind of thrown into the fire , so to speak.
S1: Priya , you earlier you mentioned , you know , just this relationship between the press and the administration , the military leaders. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Lincoln before its arrival yesterday and did speak with the crew where he kind of , you know , pointed to the media in his comments.
S5: There were a few folks.
S6: In the media who tried to turn the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol , a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission. And what I look out at right here and when I talk to your leadership and I have had a chance to talk to a number of you , I know it's the exact opposite.
S1: So , I mean , what do you make of that reaction from the secretary there? And you know how it seems to , you know , try to contradict what you had been hearing from family members of those aboard the Lincoln?
S3: Yeah , I can tell you that a lot of family members were pretty angry about some of Secretary Headset's comments right there , because they feel as though he has been dismissing a lot of their concerns , and by saying that the media is fake news and that we're liars , he's essentially calling them liars , too , because those are all the people that we quoted. And yes , unfortunately , you know , during this time period , we have to use a lot of anonymous sources. Those are people who go on background with us and we know who they are , but we have to protect their identity because they're afraid of their loved ones getting retaliated against on the ship. And of course , that's not something they want. They don't want their sailor or marine who's serving in the middle of the war , to have additional stress on top of everything they're dealing with , with their chain of command. So we oftentimes have to quote people , but we don't specifically say their names. That doesn't mean that those people are not real or that their concerns are not valid. And I think that that is something that a lot of these families are hoping for , like a little bit of accountability , a little bit of transparency. And from day one of this reporting , back in the beginning of August , we heard repeatedly from Secretary Hegseth , who just kept dismissing all of this reporting , saying that , no , every ship has everything they need at every single moment. And then , of course , you remember the famous remarks from President Trump who said that the ship actually had not been out there long enough. And so I think , you know , we know that's not true because Navy leaders have said that , yes , there were food shortages for a period of time. There were a lack of hygienic Products. Yes , this ship did beat a modern day record in the Navy for the most continuous days at sea. And by the way , this ship almost beat the record for the longest deployment in Navy history that was made by the USS board , which was also deployed to this Iran war at 326 days. So had they been out there for one more week , it would have been the longest deployment in Navy history. So all of these things are facts , you know , I mean , you can't dismiss them. And I think that the families also were wondering why Secretary Heck , Seth chose to address the crew while the ship was out at sea and why he didn't do it at the official homecoming , where the families would have had an opportunity to speak to him directly as well.
S1: Andrew , um , I know you spoke with the captain yesterday. You asked a question at press conference. Um , of the the ship's captain , Captain Daniel Keeler. But you know what? What have Navy leaders said , whether it's the captain or otherwise had to say about why the Lincoln's deployment was extended so much to this near record time that Priya was just laying out.
S4: Well , there's what they say. And then kind of what might actually be happening , right? You know , what they say is that , you know , the operational demands. And that's when they say operational demands. That's , you know , the commander in chief , that's the president's orders. Um , because he wants pressure on Iran and he wants airstrikes on Iran. And in order to in order to deliver those carriers , got to be there to , to launch them. So , um , they are out there because that's what they're being ordered to do. Um , they can't hit ports because , well , Bahrain got destroyed. I mean , pretty much , uh , they knocked out of the fight , which is where you would pull in if you're operating in that area , at least during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Um , so there's basically nowhere to stop because the ship is too big to pull into some of the smaller ports. And the next closest port is , you know , Thailand based basically so.
S1: Quite a distance away. That's not really realistic for them to leave their operations.
S4: Right , right. Um , there's also this underlying thing where the ship , you know , everybody knew the ship is due to go up to Bremerton , Washington , to go into drydock for a year and a half , maintenance and upgrade period. So Navy leadership , they know that this ship is about to be taken off the board and sent to the sent to the garage , basically. So , you know , maybe we can write it a little bit harder. Maybe it doesn't matter that we keep them out longer because it's about to go into the yards anyway , so we can get a little bit. We can really wring out as much as we can out of this particular ship , because we know it's going into the yards and we can fix everything later. So obviously they are not saying that that is part of their decision making , but it does make a certain amount of sense.
S1: And so last month , it was reported eight service members attempted suicide during this deployment. Um , Priya , what does that signal to you about mental health on the ship? Yeah.
S3: Yeah. So that was eight attempted suicides across the larger carrier strike group. So that included the USS Lincoln and then the three destroyers that were accompanying it. But , you know , I think that initially when we were reporting about families raising concerns about mental health conditions or , uh , you know , and the leadership was trying to sort of dismiss them to hear that number. We know that obviously something was going wrong there. And I think people were being pushed to their breaking point. And Navy leadership kept saying that there were resources on the aircraft carrier. But I know for a fact that from the families who were telling me on behalf of their loved ones , I think one of the things that was really , really difficult for them was that moving target of when the homecoming was supposed to be , it was supposed to be in May , then it got pushed to June , and then it got pushed once more. And the last thing we heard from the beginning of August , when they were holding these town halls with families , was expect the USS Lincoln to come back sometime at the end of this calendar year. So it appears as though the reason that it got turned around was because the administration was facing mounting pressure , because so many people were asking , why is the USS Lincoln still out there? And I think what many people who have worn a uniform and who have been on deployment say is that having a timeline makes all the difference in the world , because there's a constant countdown in the back of your mind of when you're going to get to see your loved one once again. And I think that makes everything a lot more bearable. And Andrew made a really excellent point in his last answer when he was talking about , you know , perhaps the reason that the Lincoln specifically deployment kept getting extended. And really , what it goes back to is that the Navy has 11 aircraft carriers. There have already been five that have been deployed to the war in Iran. Aircraft carriers are a huge $22 billion assets. Their maintenance cycles are about 18 months long. We are simply running out of assets. And so we've seen a lot of reporting about the depleting stockpiles of weapons , munitions and interceptors. But it's also a problem when we're talking about the literal number of warships that we're using to deploy to this conflict. And so all of this is creating a self-perpetuating cycle where the ships that are deployed right now are getting extended because the other ships are not deployable because they're in their maintenance cycles. And then when ships like the Lincoln finally get back into drydocks , as Andrew was saying , they might have to have an even longer maintenance cycle because they weren't getting the port calls that were necessary to address some of the problems that were occurring because of these nonstop combat operations. So this is a much bigger problem. And really , the solution is that the war in Iran just simply needs to end , because we do not have the resources to keep 2 to 3 carrier strike groups out in the Middle East for the foreseeable future , with no end date in sight when it comes to the war as a whole.
S1: Andrew , yesterday , you know , was this moment of victory and welcoming and just the emotion as you talked about , just the amount of like attention and the amount of people there cheering them on. Um , but , you know , I also just want to talk about , you know , what you kind of took away , like what did you learn about the Lincoln and there , you know , the saga that they've gone through over the last nearly a year now that we didn't know before?
S4: You know , I don't know if we didn't know , but , you know , it really just the and it sounds a little , a little cliche to talk about it , but it's just the resiliency of , of the , the families and the service members. Um , they're asked to do extraordinarily difficult things under tough circumstances. Uh , you don't get paid overtime in the military. It's a it's a salary job. And if if you work an 18 hour shift , you get paid the same as if you work an eight hour shift. So , um , they do a lot and there a lot is asked of them. The family members I spoke to a Navy spouse. She is also in the Navy herself. She has two small children. Um , she sold their house and moved up to Washington in anticipation of this yard period , right. She had to do this without her. Her spouse with her. Um , and she said , you know , it's extremely difficult. And because of the jobs they do , they don't normally deploy on ships. So she was like , you know , for the people that do this a lot , you know , hats off to them. Um , and the , uh , kind of the attention on the Lincoln , really , I think one of the reasons why we are so locked in on the ordeal of this ship is that it does kind of speak to the larger operations in Iran , right? Everything that happened with the Lincoln is like a metaphor for the war in Iran , where it kind of wasn't planned for. We don't know when it's going to end , and we're just going to keep doing it because that's what we're being told to do. Um , and , you know , these sailors , you know , they take a lot of pride in their work and they are not as as kind of tuned in to the politics of why they're there. They're there to do their jobs , and they take a lot of pride in their work. So you kind of have that split , that civilian military split where maybe they don't want to talk about the politics of of the deployment. They just want to talk about what they were able to achieve.
S1: Priya , I'm curious about your thoughts. I mean , did you get a sense of how , you know , members aboard the Lincoln are feeling about all this attention that they're getting?
S3: Yeah , I mean , I think , like Andrew said , they are incredibly proud to serve. And I think they want that recognition. And , you know , I've been saying repeatedly that two things can be true at the same time. They certainly had a historic deployment. And as Admiral Brad Cooper , who's the Centcom commander , he's in charge of the day to day operations in Iran. He said that this carrier strike group was involved in some of the most intense naval combat operations that the U.S. Navy has seen since World War two. I think those are things that they are incredibly proud of. But at the same time , that doesn't discount the fact that they also face some incredibly tough conditions. And I think they want that to be acknowledged. And I think when you serve in the Navy , for many people , this is a lifelong career. They're going to put 20 years into it so that they can make their retirement afterwards. And so I hear it consistently from these service members and their families , that they hope that there were lessons that were learned through their deployment that can then be applied to the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group that's heading out there right now. So they don't want their ship and this deployment to be forgotten about now that they've pulled into port. And I think , yes , this is representative of the larger Iran war as a whole and perhaps the lack of planning. But I think it also goes to show you that , again , this is more than just about the price at the pump or , you know , the fact that our stockpiles are being depleted. These are the real people who sacrificed so much and their families because of the decisions that were being made. And I think that that's something that , you know , the larger American public should not forget , because only 1% of the United States wears a uniform. So it's really easy when we think about the concept of a war , for it to feel incredibly foreign and like it doesn't really directly impact us until we go to fill up gas in our car. But these are people who are asking so much of and they deserve to have food. They deserve to have toilets that flush. They deserve to have hot water in their showers. That is not asking too much. They are not weak for wanting to have humane conditions so that they can serve their country. So I think that was sort of my biggest takeaway from covering the story and then getting to see them both in Thailand and here in San Diego. Andrew.
S1: Andrew. Yeah , I mean , kind of centering it back on on the crew members here. What's next for the crew of the Lincoln? They have like extended , you know , leave now after this. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Normally when you get back from from cruise , you go into like a holiday stand down period where they let more people take leave than usual. And I'm sure most of the crew is going to take a little bit of time off. But there are a couple months away from , um , that homeport shift up to Bremerton.
S1: So in Washington. Right.
S4: Right. So they've got a lot of stuff to do to plan for that. Maybe not everybody's going. Maybe not everybody's family is going. Um , so that's a whole a whole process. And I went through that on the on the Ronald Reagan in 2011. And it's , you know , luckily I got to stay behind , but , um , it's , it's it's a lot and you're asking a lot of these families to , to plan for that while you're sailors deployed. So glad they're back and they're going to be able to kind of get on with things.
S1: I've been speaking with KPBS military and Veterans Affairs reporter Andrew Dyer , along with Priya Schraeder , Pentagon reporter , with us now. Thank you both.
S4: Thank you.
S7: Thank you.
S1: And we'll include links to Priya and Andrew's reporting on our show notes today. Up next , how extreme heat is impacting people incarcerated in one local prison. This is KPBS roundtable. Stay tuned. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. San Diegans are coming off another brutally hot week. It's just the latest in a series of heat waves this year. But for people who live in prison , he takes on a whole new meaning. Inside the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa. Incarcerated people have been suffering through soaring temperatures. My colleague Corey Suzuki spoke with several people there to learn more about conditions inside the prison and what they tell us about how California prisons handle extreme heat. Corey joins me now. He covers the South Bay for KPBS. Hey , Corey. Welcome back.
S8: Hey , Andrew. Thanks for having me.
S1: Great to see you. So , you know , tell us first , just how did the story get started for you? Right.
S8: Right. Well , this story started with the tip. Someone reached out. They said they knew someone who was incarcerated at Donovan and who was experiencing these really hot temperatures. And through them , we were able to connect with three people who were currently incarcerated there , started hearing kind of from all of them , that it was really hot and at the same time. These lockdowns were taking place.
S1: And yeah , I want to talk more about the lockdowns , but you're focused your story focused on the heat wave we had back in early September. And what I remember from that was just how hot and humid humid that one was particularly. But you spoke with three incarcerated people there , as you mentioned inside Donovan. How did they describe that heat in that heat wave? Right.
S8: Right. I think that I mean , I remember that heat wave , too. It was it felt like it was so hot for everyone. And in Otay Mesa , part of San Diego County , that tends to get really hot because it's this in more industrial area , more inland. Um , the folks who we talked to incarcerated , Donovan said that it was stifling , frustrating , miserable. There is no air conditioning in their housing unit where these three men live. And so they talked about using wet towels. And so these small personal eight inch fans to try and keep themselves cool. Here's Lonnie Cactus. He's been at Donovan for five years.
S9: All you can do when you're in the cell is is , you know , try to keep cold water on your body. Like I said , you know , weather towel and and keep keep letting it and keep , you know , wrapping it around your neck. Okay.
S1: Okay. So yeah , he's describing they're just some of the , the tricks , the ways they try to keep cool. I'm assuming air conditioning is not really involved here.
S8: Right , right. It sort of depends on where you are in the state prison system in California , and also which area of individual facilities that you're , you're currently that you're currently in , in the housing unit where Lonnie lives. He says that they do not have air conditioning. And that's what we heard from from everyone that we talked to. There are different types of cooling systems that CDCr has. Some prisons , including Donovan , have evaporative coolers or which are known colloquially as swamp coolers , which use different cooling systems , but they're not traditional air conditioning. And as temperatures rise , they tend to be not as effective. And kind of the incarcerated people we talked to said they just tend to sort of blow hot air around.
S1: A big part of the story , as you mentioned , is , you know , what happens when a prison is on lockdown , particularly during these periods of intense heat. How does the lockdown make it harder to handle the heat?
S8: Well , what the three people that we spoke to described is that it means restricted access to things like cooler areas of the of the prison. There's a common room called the day room , for example , where you have these large industrial fans. Again , there's no air conditioning , but at least you have these bigger , um , these bigger fans that are kind of keeping air moving and circulating. And Lonnie said that he could see these fans turning from his cell. But during lockdown , you're restricted to your housing unit and to your cell for most of the day , if not all of it. And so you can't get out there , you can't get to these cooler areas. It's also harder for incarcerated people to access water cooler forms of water like ice water. Um , the correctional staff will sometimes put out ice water , the three people said in the day room. And it'll be accessible for for people to take some into their cells. But when you're on lockdown.
S1: You don't have access to that.
S8: You can't get to it. Right? It's it's it's not , again , not something that you have access to unless staff , correctional staff are delivering it to your to yourself.
S1: How common are lockdowns at places like Donovan do you know.
S8: Well , we don't have exact numbers on that. Um , what we heard from these three people is that they've been pretty common this year. They've been a frequent occurrence , especially this summer , but it's hard to say. And , uh , CDCr , the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not answer direct questions about exactly the exact durations of these lockdowns in September and how long they lasted , which specific parts of the prison that prison officials locked down , they said that they took place confirmed that between a seven day period , September 10th to September 17th. But they didn't answer those other specific questions and declined our interview request.
S1: But the CDCr , they run the state prisons , right? They do have a heat plan , right? Can you tell us more about what what's included in that? Right.
S8: Right. CDCr has since the 90s , had a protocol for heat safety for when temperatures rise outside and inside. And this is kind of like a three step protocol that sets guidelines for state prisons , for what to do when temperatures cross 90 degrees outside , 90 degrees inside , and then reach certain other temperature thresholds inside. Um , what it does spell out is it lists certain cooling measures like ice , water and like fans. And it also applies in particular to incarcerated people who are on medication that makes them particularly vulnerable to heat. Some medication for people dealing with mental illness makes it harder for their body to regulate their internal temperatures , and so it makes them more sensitive to hot conditions. And so that's what the heat plan was originally designed to focus on. Um , it's been since been expanded to cover larger , larger parts of the incarcerated population. Um , but advocates that I spoke to , civil rights attorneys , they say that this heat plan , it's now decades old. And even though CDCr has updated it , it's they feel like many people feel like it's not keeping up with the more intense and longer heat waves that are being driven by climate change. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And the story , you know , you tell us about Donovan , but it's the story you're telling here is not isolated to just this one prison. What did you learn about heat and how it's handled in prisons , you know , across California , right.
S8: Well , I spoke to for this story , uh , advocates in the Bay area , a civil rights attorney who has been involved in litigating , who works for a firm that's been involved in litigating these some of these complaints and cases over mental health care and medical care against CDCr. And what they said is that the reports that we're hearing from inside Donovan really closely align with experiences that incarcerated people across the state prison system face. California has 31 state prisons all across the state , from as far north as the Bay area and further to um , to Donovan and to prisons in Imperial County. And the reports that that they hear , uh , they said closely match up with some of the details that we've been talking about. I mean , access to ice , water , access to fans , the questions about whether CDCr is consistently applying these protocols. Um , here's a little bit from Lily Harvey. She's a staff attorney at the prison law office in Berkeley.
S10: The reports we get also go far beyond discomfort. I've received multiple letters from people in different institutions describing this feeling like a fish out of water and and asthma attacks and increased seizure activity , things like that. And people are scared. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And , you know , I think all of us have been thinking a lot about the heat. And , you know , just this summer through these , you know , these intense heat waves like the one you document here. And your reporting seems to be having an impact already. A California lawmaker said he wants to push for oversight hearings related to the health of incarcerated people in Donovan. What has he said exactly right.
S8: Well , I spoke to Nick Schultz. He's an assembly member from Burbank up near LA , and he chairs the Assembly's standing committee on public safety. He's a former top prosecutor with the Department of Justice. And what Schultz told me is that he thinks that this is a place for the legislature to step in to , uh , to to look more closely at how CDC heat plan is holding up when it comes to rising global temperatures , at how CDC's heat plan is intersecting and with and overlapping with protocols like lockdowns and what that means for the safety of people inside. And Schultz says that , um , you know , the bottom line is that even , uh , regardless of what led to someone ending up incarcerated at Donovan Schultz , he makes this point that people are protected from cruel and unusual punishment. They're protected constitutionally from cruel and unusual conditions. And he says that CDCr state prison system has a tremendous responsibility to be making sure that people who are in their care and who have no way to meaningfully protect themselves , or very limited ways to protect themselves and depend entirely on the state to do that. He says CDCr has just an incredible duty to make sure that that's happening and that they're not , um , that they're not failing to protect people in these extreme conditions.
S1: So again , your story focused on , you know , heatwave from earlier this summer , but we're just finishing up another one this week. I'm wondering if you've at all heard from the folks you spoke to in this story to see how they're doing during this latest heat wave , which again , we've seen , you know , several New York high temperature records set this week.
S8: Yeah , well , some people inside have access to thermometers. These are smaller thermometers on on some types of equipment that you can buy from the commissary. And I , one of the folks that we talked to said he's going to be keeping a record of temperatures this week , going to be keeping a log , kind of doing what the state prison system is supposed to be doing , but may not be necessarily doing consistently , according to advocates and civil rights attorneys. And so that's one thing. There are folks inside who are trying to keep track of this , trying to collect their own data and hold the state prison system accountable if they're not doing what they need to be doing during those temperatures. And then I think just looking ahead to , um , we'll also be looking to January when the , the legislature returns to session and to when this Assembly member , Schultz says he's going to push for these oversight hearings. And we'll see. I think what what happens then to what? What? Answer CDCr has.
S1: More to come there. Um , I want to thank you for joining. You know , joining us to talk about the story we're going to have a link to to Corey's reporting on our show notes today. I've been speaking with Corey Suzuki. He's South Bay reporter here at KPBS. Corey thanks again.
S8: Thanks , Andrew.
S1: You may noticed a new voice greeting your mornings here on KPBS. Up next , a conversation with KPBS Morning Edition anchor Katie Anastas. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Think about the first voice you hear each morning. Maybe it's your kids , your roommates , or a voice from your radio bringing you local news. KPBS listeners may have noticed a change in that morning voice. Katie Anastas is now taking on the role after Deb Welch stepped away in June , and Katie joins me now , fresh off the air , in fact , after her first week. Katie , welcome back to roundtable.
S7: Thanks for having me.
S1: It's great to have you. And , you know , congratulations on on the new role. How has this first week been in the morning anchor chair.
S7: It's been good. You know , I am still adjusting to the early morning wake up time , but I know from past experience that it , you know , takes me about a week and then I have adjusted my sleep cycle. So I think by the time Monday morning rolls around , I'll be ready to be up early.
S1: Do you think you'll be , like , ready to go by Monday? I would think it would take me like a month or something because you start pretty early. Mhm. Mhm. Um , you are not new to the morning edition anchor chair. Exactly. I mean you know , now you're filling you filled in here on KPBS before , but you've also anchored at other stations , right?
S7: That's right. So my first job in public radio out of graduate school in 2021 , I spent a summer hosting morning edition in Petersburg , Alaska. Um , it's just the most beautiful place in the world. It's a town of about 2000 people. Um , it's this little fishing community pretty close to Juneau. So southeast Alaska. And , um , that's where I learned how to host Morning Edition. So I started my days early. Thankfully , it was summer in Alaska , so it was sunny when I woke up. But yeah , um , yeah , it was a great place to kind of get that first experience.
S1: Oh , wow. That's amazing. What? So can you tell us a little bit like what an average morning looks like in this role for you? Yeah.
S7: Yeah. I think , um , when I first get in , I kind of look at what we have that's come in , you know , the afternoon before from all of our reporters. And I kind of take stock of what we have , what parts of town we're covering in this set of stories. Um , something that's very different from working this job in a place like Petersburg compared to San Diego , is we have so many little cities and towns and communities here in San Diego County and in Imperial County. So my first step is to kind of look at , okay , what areas are we covering and where are maybe some places I can try to fill in the gaps a little bit. Um , you know , a look at , uh , other news outlets. I'll look at , you know , our , our public matters partners and see what they're covering. I'll see what's in the San Diego Union Tribune that morning. Um , I'll look at the Associated Press and see , you know , what has , um , risen to the level of national attention from San Diego? And it kind of gives me a good sense of what do I think people should know as they start their day? Um , so that's kind of my first , you know.
S1: Yeah , it's a step. I mean , it's just great to hear , you know , a little more of that , the insight and how you think about it. What types of stories interest you most? Mm.
S7: Mm. I think I really love something I love about the kind of challenge of Morning Edition here is balancing. You know , there are kind of smaller stories in different communities. Um , that may seem like it's not relevant to the whole county , but I think is worth bringing to Morning Edition because it represents something bigger than itself. So the other day , for example , I , um , the Imperial Valley Press , uh , had a story about a new youth soccer tournament coming up this this weekend. And it's the first , um , binational soccer tournament happening , I think , in Calexico. Uh , and there's going to be kids from all over the border region , um , you know , gathering. They're celebrating with an opening ceremony tonight. They're going to be playing all weekend. And that just felt like a nice kind of slice of our community being here in , um , you know , Southern California. So I like getting a chance to kind of spotlight some of those community events that I think , um , people , you know , might want to check out over the weekend.
S1: And it's not easy. I mean , as you mentioned earlier , right. Like KPBS covers not only the city of San Diego with its whatever , one plus million , you know , residents , but the county , which is another , you know , several different cities , towns , communities , um , and as well as Imperial County. Right. So we're talking rural urban areas , coastal border towns , all with their own unique stories to tell. You know , you kind of shared one example , but how else do you approach covering such a wide range of communities that that encompasses our region?
S7: I think , you know , now that I think about it , I'm really thankful that I'm coming from , um , spending the last couple of years as the education reporter because I think it presented the same kind of challenge and opportunity where there are so many school districts and there are so many circumstances that a rural district will deal with very differently than San Diego Unified , for example. And I think all of our communities are are similar in that way. And I think I kind of approach it the same way I approach school stories , which was , you know , is this something that speaks to a broader trend or something that I think everyone in the county , in these two counties should know about? Or do I think it's just some really unique , cool little story that I would think a lot , a lot of people would be interested in.
S1: It's great too , which is cool too. Yeah. So , you know , now , as you're kind of reflecting back on your time as education reporter , what did you learn about San Diego from your time covering local schools? Hmm.
S7: I think that I mean , something that I love about covering education is that I think , uh , it can kind of be a , not a canary in the coal mine , but it's kind of the first place where a lot of these kind of bigger societal issues play out. Um , you know , you and I have talked a lot about screen time in schools and how that kind of debate really feels kind of like the front lines of some of these big AI related questions in our communities. Um , I think it's , you know , a few months ago , it was kind of the front lines of , um , ice enforcement in our communities. And I think , you know , we see all these issues come up at a school level and , and kind of think about how we as a community want our children to navigate these issues. And I think , um , I don't know , I think I think what I've learned is that despite some of these big differences , that individual communities in San Diego and Imperial counties might have , I think , a lot of the same core concerns and and values and dreams for , you know , kids in our community are the same across the board.
S1: So I want to , you know , as you kind of wrap up your education beat , I do want to touch base on one of your final stories. You recently profiled a new Native American Studies curriculum in a classroom in rural San Diego County. Can you talk about that and how that kind of fits into , you know , what you've been talking about and what you've taken away from covering our schools here?
S7: Yeah , I think , um , I was just telling someone the other day that I feel really lucky to have spent so much time in Alaska , because I don't know that I would have known to be on the lookout for that story if I hadn't covered , um , education and Alaska Native education issues up in Alaska. Um , you know , when this statewide curriculum was getting finalized last year , I thought , okay , I really want to find a way to see how that's playing out in San Diego. You know , we have , um. San Diego County has so many tribal communities. There are different cultures and different languages. And , um , how how does a state try to encapsulate so much information , uh , and then get it out to teachers in classrooms? So , um , I wanted to find a local teacher. I got to go visit , um , Greg Hinchcliffe classroom. He helped write the curriculum. So he was a great person to talk to. Um , got to see him use some of the activities in his high school class. I spoke to someone in Paula who's working on language revitalization and talked to him about what he's contributed to the class. Um , and I talked to Jolie Proudfoot at CSU San Marcos about her work with Alaska , um , with Native American studies and curriculum. So it felt kind of like a full circle moment where , yeah , um , I got to kind of reminisce on my coverage in Alaska and kind of try to spotlight some of that work that's happening here.
S1: Well , we'll have a link to Katie's stories on our show notes. But , you know , I want to just say congratulations again on On the Morning edition roll. Thank you. And yeah , it's been great to speak with you more about it. I've been speaking with KPBS Morning Edition anchor Katie Anastas. Katie , thanks.
S7: Thank you.
S1: That'll do it for this week's roundtable. Thanks so much for listening. Roundtables. Technical producer is Brandon Truffaut. The show is produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Rooth is roundtable senior producer. I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. Thanks again for listening. Have a great weekend.
