Friday, May 4, 2012 - Evening Edition

>> DWANE: Coming up on KPBS Evening Edition, Southern Edison will seek permission to restart
the San Onofre power plant and we will talk about junior Seau, KPBS Evening Edition starts
now. >> DWANE: Good evening thanks for joining
us I'm Dwane brown. Southern California Edison plans to ask federal
regulators if it can restart the San Onofre power plant but first the commission requires
a conclusion on what happened. Alison St. John joins me from our north county
bureau, has Southern California Edison concluded what the problems are?
>>> Not yet, Dwane, but it would like to make a request later this month to ask if they
can power the plant up at half power sometime next month.
They are saying if it's at half power it may put less pressure on the tubes which leaked
which is why the plant shutdown. If they could open up again it would take
pressure off the network administrators, who are trying to keep the lights on when the
summer comes. >> DWANE: What are the NRC saying?
>> They are saying that they will not grant permission for Edison to start the plant again
unless we have a root cause established. However, it might be a little politically
sensitive to get to that root cause because if, in fact, it turns out it's the design
of the new steam generator that was installed then the question arises how come Edison spent
$700 million on taxpayer money on a system that wasn't properly vetted.
>> DWANE: Didn't they have jurisdiction over permitting the new design to be installed?
>> Yes and it's saying it will review procedures for how it vets those designs, Edison told
the NRC that was an equivalent design to the one it was replacing, turns out it wasn't.
That is going to be interesting to see what the NRC decides to do in those cases.
>> DWANE: KPBS senior Metro reporter, Alison St. John.
Overall spending is down but the number of jobs up slightly in the budget for the coming
fiscal year in July, public safety will get substantial increases while capital improvements
get big cuts in the $5 billion budget. San Diego school district's teachers of the
year are a former nurse a high school drop out and a special needs instructor.
They will be honored by the school board next week.
Mexican voters will get their first chance this Sunday to watch the presidential candidates
debate on national television, problem is they will have to decide whether to watch
that or a national soccer match, from our desk, Jill Replogle is here.
What's this about, Jill? >> Mexico's two major stations have both said
they're going to broadcast the soccer match on their main channels w they will broadcast
the debate but on smaller channels and one of them is going to broadcast on a station
that doesn't get national coverage. >> DWANE: Why do you think they're opting
not to televise the debate? >> Some are saying that they're favoring the
headﾊ the guy who is in the lead right now who is Pena and he is ahead by 20 points in
the polls so he doesn't have a whole lot of impetus to debate the other candidates.
Others say it's a simple business decision, there are more that want to watch soccer rather
than the debate, unfortunately. >> DWANE: I know there are Mexican voters
in the U.S., will they be able to watch? >> They can, CNN in Spanish is going to broadcast
the debate and the national electoral commission is going to stream it live on their web sites.
>> DWANE: Jill Replogle. The county medical examiner says the leading
cause of death in San Diego county is prescription drugs, primarily people who overdose on pain
medications, now people are getting rid of their unused prescriptions properly.
>>> We see what I would say is a larger portion in the people over 50 crowd, people that have
more medication in their house. >> DWANE: DEA agent tomorrow Lennox says the
"take back eye "program is showing signs of success and this is a small example.
>>> We brought in 9200 pounds, well over a ton more than we did the last event.
>> DWANE: The DEA and its partners set up drop off boxes for unused prescriptions at
35 locations in San Diego and three in imperial county.
He says when the program started in 2009 there were only six drop off sites.
>>> I think that tells me right now that the San Diego community understands the dangers
of prescription drugs and the need to get rid of them and have them properly disposed
of. >> DWANE: The program went national in 2010
and San Diego was the first to include marine and Navy drop off sites as well as colleges
and Indian reservations. >>> We had three with different college and
universities participating and, again, San Diego being what it is we have travel police.
>> DWANE: Over the past decade prescription related deaths have increased 85%, agent Lennox
says you don't have to wait for the next event in Octoberﾊto get rid of your unused drugs.
>>> Obviously we do these every six months. If somebody has prescription drugs they haven't
been able to get to a take back program, currently the San Diego sheriff's department, they have
drop boxes in all of their 24 locations. >> DWANE: Agent Lennox says all the drugs
turned in last weekend will be taken to a special facility and burned.
The local environmental group San Diego 350 is responding to an international call to
action on climate change. The group will form a human wave tomorrow
morning to call attention to rising sea levels. Dr.ﾊRajul Treho receives an award tonight
for the Latino community award, for improving the lives of families as well as youth, he
is on staff at the Scripps family medicine residency program and the San Ysidro help
center. The game starts
at 7:05. >> DWANE: Two big stories in the news this
week the suicide of former chargers linebacker Junior Seau and an engineering student left
in a DEA holding cell without food or water for five days, Amita Sharma has analysis of
both of these stories and guests at the evening edition round table.
>> AMITA: Junior Seau's family wants researchers to look at his brain to see if he suffered
is damage from injuries sustained during if we want years in the NFL.
He committed suicide this week and we will talk about his legacy to the game and the
community. Federal agents abandoned him in a jail cell
without food or water for five days now UC San Diego engineering student Daniel Chung
is suing the federal government. My guests are Jay Paris and Jeff McDonald.
Jay, you knew Junior Seau, what was he like as a player, as a person, and what kind of
mark does he leave on San Diego? >> I think he was really the same as a player
and a person. You would describe this with passion.
He played the game with incredible passion and he really lived his life with that same
passion. The legacy he leaves is he was a haul of fame
player and one of the best to play the game overall and certainly one of the best chargers,
but his legacy too was a connection to the fans and the community.
The work he did in that community, more than $4 million in college scholarships, opening
his restaurant every Thanksgiving to feed the needy, "shock with a jock" where he would
give kids money to shop for Christmas gifts for their families.
His force was almost trumped off the field. I think that's where the real loss is here,
people felt like they knew I am, he went up the road at USC and he was a big star for
the chargers and it's a loss that's going to be felt for quite some time.
>> AMITA: People who saw him this week said he was in great spirits Monday on a celebrity
golf tournament. He canceled afternoon shoot saying that he
wasn't feeling well, Wednesday he takes his own life.
Were there any signs, indications, that he was depressed about something?
>> We can't uncover any and you look at the finances, there weren't people knocking on
the door looking for money. Un, junior was always the brightest personality
in every room he walked into. For him to cancel a photo shoot, I don't know
what was going on there, but he had appointments later that day.
His mom said, why wouldn't he say anything to her, and it seemed like it was almostﾊ
I've heard it described as a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
You wonder what his state of mind is and maybe that goes into playing 20 years in the NFL
as well. >> AMITA: He played 20 years in the NFL, unheard
of, and now his family wants his brain studied for possible signs of traumatic brain injury,
which is associated with depression, occasional suicide, dimension is that, did he ever talk
about this publically? Did he show signs of suffering from something
like this? >> Absolutely not and what made him Junior
Seau was his toughness, he would never raise a hand and say I need a breather, coach, no
way he should have been playing one time on one leg, he had more tackles than anybody
out there. I think, too, with the concussion andﾊ the
whole mentality and the culture of the national football league is how tough can you be, everybody
gets hurt, can you get through that pain, the Samoan culture doesn't raise their hand
and say "I'm hurtin' here" and did Junior Seau have a concussion during his career?
Absolutely. He played in a violent position, and he was
making contact every play. He suffered concussions, he never let on.
>> AMITA: Football is not just your father's game, it's faster, harder, this week 100 former
NFL players joined 1500 retired players in suing the NFL saying they're still experiencing
debilitating affects from injuries they suffered to the brain on the field.
How seriously is the NFL taking these concerns? >> As serious as a $9 billion company would.
They're scared to death because more and more of these players are coming back and saying
we didn't get the proper medical care, there wasn't an objective observer, it's hard to
rely on the team trainer and team doctor to say this guy can't play anymore, everybody
wants to win and winning means money. They're saying they didn't have that information.
You're right about the game, and a lot of it is the equipment, these light helmets,
they're using them as a weapon and in years past they didn't do that as much and it's
bigger, stronger in size, the force of the velocity, that's why people tune in, the NFL
is in a juggling act, but they are trying to put in rules as best they can.
>> AMITA: Jeff, there is a case of the UCSD engineering student, left in a jail cell for
five days without food or water. Let's take this case back a little bit.
He was first picked up during a drug raid at a private home, was he doing there?
>> He was there to party with his friends on a Friday night, Aprilﾊ20th.
He spent the night and certainly unknowingly the DEA had been observing the house and they
executed a search warrant, gathered up people, including Mr. Chong and took them to the DEA
headquarters in Kearney Mesa. They said we went through the process of interviewing
people, transferring folks from holding cells to interview rooms so they could be individually
questioned. They lost track of Mr.ﾊChong at some point
after the interview, they concluded his discussion and determined that he was not guilty of any
crime, they told him he would be released and just sit tight we're going to let you
go and Mr.ﾊChong said one agent said he would give him a ride home Saturday afternoon
sometime. Meantime seven others were transferred to
county custody, one was released and Mr.ﾊChong was the one they forgot about.
When he went into the cell on Saturday after the interview he expected to go home with
an hour or two hours, he hung tight and apparently he was handcuffed.
The door never opened again until Wednesday afternoon.
>> AMITA: So he's in the cell for five days. What did he endure and what did he do to keep
himself alive? >> He told a very specific detail at his press
conference on Tuesday. He expected to go home, he was hungry, no
water, no place to go to the bathroom, he was handcuffed, when it became apparent that
he wasn't going home anytime soon, he said mental fatigue set in, he started hallucinating
from lack of food and water, at some point he could hear voices and foot steps outside
the door and he couldn't understand why no one was responding to his screams and kick
and he described basically going crazy. >> AMITA: How was he discovered?
>> That remains a mystery, he assumes it was accidental, someone just walked in and he
said one of the agents said "here is the water you've been asking for," which I think is
a significant remembrance because it implies that the agents knew he was in there.
The DEA hasn't responded to the specific points that Mr.ﾊChong brought forward, he subsequently
filed a claim and it will be going to court to recover damages.
He was transported to a local hospital where he spent three days in intensive care.
>> AMITA: What kind of condition was he in? >> Severely dehydrated, mall nourished and
he had a perforated lung, his lung had glass in it from a failed suicide attempt.
>> AMITA: The DEA has apologized and how have they explained this?
As far as we know it hasn't happened before. >>> No, as far as we know nothing like this
has happened before, the only thing they acknowledged was it was accidental, that was their key
statement on Monday and we have been going with that.
We have followed up for responses to his side of the story and none forthcoming, perhaps
understandably in light of the $20 million claim his lawyer filed on Wednesday.
>> AMITA: His lawyer is seeking $20 million. What is his lawyer saying about this case?
>> They liken it to torture, citing a number of examples of his condition that meet that
statute. They recount in the five page claim the otherﾊ
the laws that dictate what the government can and can't do and the violations that the
government is alleged to have committed against Mr.ﾊChong and that will presumably be rejected
by the DEA counsel and go to court sometime later this year, next year, he asked for an
expedited rejection of the claim when he expects. >> AMITA: Jeff, Jay, thank you for speaking
to us today. >>> Thank you.
>> DWANE: How does a restaurant's design impact your dining experience, when we come back.
Creating spaces we love to eat and drink in. This is KPBS Evening Edition.
>> DWANE: Today's foodie culture has everyone talking about food and when it comes from
but it's not just the food that makes the dining experience special it's the design
of the restaurant. KPBS reporter Angela Carone talks about the
designers and the restaurant we like to eat and drink in.
>>> When this restaurant opened in 1946, Bob hope was the first to check in, the style
issue and the glamour Russ checked in. >>> They had incredible jazz in the lobby.
>>> It was the place to be. >>> The design team known as "bells and whistles
were inspired by the history when they agreed to design the restaurant inside the Lafayette.
>>> We knew there was a story we could tie into our design and pay home age to that history.
>>> That is captured in this wall screen built out of windows and doors out of the 1800s,
all snagged at an estate sale in La Mesa. Bells and whistles is a trio, behind the creative
"smoking goat" restaurant and the hot spot in little Italy, "starlite."
>>> We wanted it to be a good design, not the use of too many materials.
>>> We definitely made a lot of integration, the Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico I spent
three or four times going there and looking at that space.
They did a lot of architecture underground in the 1950s and 60s, they have the lights
coming down and the starlite is a reflection of that.
>>> They build a lot of designs themselves which is rare in the design world.
>>> You're not relying on someone else to produce your idea.
>>> And I think that we both feel that you can actually get a lot more soul into a project
doing that. >>> At the new "Raglan public house" in ocean
beach the owner has decided to try to tap into the community.
>>> OB is what the guest experience is supposed to represent, it was more about antidesign
and antistructure, anticorporate. Soriano immersed himself in ocean beach, took
note of the hallmarks of the neighborhood, surf shop stickers, surf boards.
>>> We looked at how they were integrating those into the properties and how could we
still have a nod to those design elements but reinvent them in our way.
The graffiti elements present the customers chalk boards and the kids think it's great
and adults love them. >>> He designed the gas lamp restaurants,
and a restaurant in Point Loma called "the pearl."
>>> More often I like to do things that have childhood memories, and giving people an opportunity
to reconnect with the good feelings and memories. >>> Today's design savvy public expects a
lot from restaurants and bars. >>> Food and drink is huge, service is a part
of it but the space that you're sitting in is a huge draw.
I think that's half the thrill ride. >>> Designing these spaces certainly seems
like a glamorous gig but these local design stars say it's hard work.
>>> Everything that goes into the space is thought about with four or five different
options. It's mundane sometimes, you know, to think,
like, okay >> What is theﾊ it's a tough plan!
>>> It's glamorous when it starts and finishes, and in between
>> Yes get to play with clients money and we get paid to do that.
>>> Soriano says it pays off when he sees people in the space he's designed.
>>> What inspires me is seeing people laugh and smile and how can I get more of that going
on in the properties that I do. Of at the end of the day it's my highest agenda.
>> DWANE: KPBS reporter can Angela Carone. You can read more by going to Angela's blog
at www.kpbs.org/news/evening edition. >> AMITA: Now to our public square, protesters
took to the streets to get answers from federal investigators on the death of Rojas, who decide
in Juneﾊof 2010 after border patrol agents caught him crossing into San Diego illegally.
Authorities said they used a taser on him after he became violent, his death was ruled
a homicide and the case has gained renewed attention after the piece was aired on a KPBS
documentary, it shows Rojas laying on the ground almost still while the border agents
shouted at him to "stop resisting" many of you weighed in, Jorge responds I'm Mexican
and I'm outraged, at both. It's a shame.
Heather says "this story is so disgusting I'm angry and I want to cry" and Roberto said
"it is reflective of the insensitivity and the repeated cover up of law enforcement and
the justice department when a federal or local sworn officer is murdered every resource is
utilized to arrest and bring the accused to trial.
Why has this investigation taken so long?" You can weigh in on the conversation by following
us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook and, of course, you can email us.
Now Dwane has a recap of tonight's top stories. >> DWANE: Southern California Edison plans
to ask federal regulators this month if it can restart the San Onofre power plant in
June, however, the regulatory commission requires a conclusion on the problems before the plant
can go back online. Overall spending is down but the number of
jobs up slightly in the San Diego county budget for the coming fiscal year, public safety
cease substantial increases while capital improvements get big cuts in the nearly $5
billion budget. You can watch and comment on any of the stories
you saw tonight on our web site, www.kpbs.org/news/evening edition.
Thanks for joining us, you have a great night. We leave with you a look it at the weekend
forecast. "Captions provided by Captions"