Podcasts about California Street

Today, the Online for Authors podcast Guest Host Tina Hogan Grant chats Donna Levin, author of the book The Talking Stick. Donna's work is included in Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and in the California State Library's collection of California novels. She is the author of Extraordinary Means, California Street, There's More Than One Way Home, and He Could Be Another Bill Gates, as well as her latest novel, The Talking Stick, a dramedy about four women who discover that some of their most-cherished memories are romanticized versions of the truth. In addition to novels, Donna has published two books about writing:  Get that Novel Started and Get that Novel Written, both with Writer's Digest Books. Donna has taught fiction writing for three decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the novel writing workshop. She has also been a frequent guest at writers' conferences, including the San Francisco Writers' Conference and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. She lives in San Francisco. In her book review, Tina  stated that this is a Joyful and at times humorous read that had me laughing out loud. After Hunter loses her cheating husband to her so-called friend, Angelica. Hunter decides to start a support group and places flyers around her neighborhood. I enjoyed reading how Danika, Alicia, and Penelope stumbled on the flyer and how we were introduced to the characters. I felt like I was sitting in on their meetings, learning of their history, struggles, and challenges. All were unique and over time their friendship grew and by the end of the book they had become a sisterhood. The storyline kept me engaged and many women will relate to one of the women's stories. Well written with a few surprises. A book I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.  Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1 Join the Novels N Latte Book Club community to discuss this and other books with like-minded readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3576519880426290 You can follow Author Website: https://www.donnalevin.com/ FB: @authordonnalevin IG: @donnalevinauthor LinkedIn: @donna-levin-50b5047 X: @DonnaLevinWrite   Purchase on Amazon: Hardback: https://amzn.to/4eBSBkb Ebook: https://amzn.to/3zDy53Q   Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1   #donnalevin #thetalkingstick #womensfiction #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1. Aaron talks about volunteering at a nonprofit in The City called the Trust for Public Land, where he learned about land acquisition for parks and open spaces. Through that gig, he got a paid internship and eventually, a job. In fact, he met Nancy, the woman he would later marry, there. He eventually moved into Nancy's apartment in North Beach, his first apartment in SF. The move came shortly after the couple visited Nepal to climb in the Himalayas. It was October 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened.   We fast-forward to 2000, the year I moved to San Francisco. I set the stage for my first brush with Aaron at this point in the recording. My first apartment was on California Street near Larkin. The cable car runs on that block. One day, still very new in The City, I spotted a politician on a cable car campaigning. Back then, I had no idea what the Board of Supervisors was. But lo and behold, it was Aaron Peskin, campaigning for his first term on the Board.   Aaron then tells the story from his point of view, backing up just a few years.   In his time at the Trust for Public Land, he worked with elected officials often. He learned his way around Sacramento and DC. But more pertinent to this story, Aaron also worked with a North Beach tree-planting organization—Friends of the Urban Forest, in fact—and the Telegraph Hill Dwellers to be specific. The work involved getting volunteers together, convincing folks who'd lived in the neighborhood for decades to plant trees on the sidewalks in front of their houses.   It was the late-Nineties. The first dotcom boom was still happening. Willie Brown was at the height of his mayoral power. Chain stores were trying their hardest to move into North Beach. Aaron remembered that he knew the mayor from his work with the trust, and got a meeting with Brown. He brought several disparate groups together with the mayor. Brown told Peskin, "If you don't like the way I run this town, why don't you run for office?"   From that dismissive comment, Aaron got involved in the upstart mayor campaign, in 1999, of Supervisor Tom Ammiano. Through this, he met many folks from many grassroots and neighborhood organizations. Ammiano, a write-in candidate, forced a December runoff, which he lost to Willie Brown. But the experience transformed Aaron Peskin.   Ammiano urged Aaron to run for the DCCC shortly after the election. Looking over what he'd already accomplished, he ran and got a seat on the committee. It was March 2000. That fall would see the resumption of supervisor district elections, vs. at-large contests where the top-11 vote-getters won seats on the Board that had been in place since 1980. Again, Ammiano nudged Aaron to run for the newly created District 3 supervisor seat. He thought, Why not try once?   He won the seat. Aaron credits campaign volunteers with earning that victory. He ended up serving two four-year terms as the D3 supervisor.   We fast-forward a bit through those eight years. Highlights include Matt Gonzalez's run for mayor in 2003, Aaron's dive into areas of public policy he had been uneducated on prior to his time in office, and bringing people together to get stuff done.   I ask Aaron if it's all ever overwhelming. He says yes, and rattles off the various ways—hiking, canoeing, yoga— he deals with that. We talk about his addiction to alcohol as well, something he's kicked for the last three years.   Aaron was termed out in 2008, and says he saw it as the end of a chapter of his life. He ran for the DCCC again, where he won a seat and was the chair of that group from 2008–2012. He helped get out the vote for Barack Obama in 2008, working to send volunteers to Nevada. After 2012, he figured he was totally finished with politics. He went back to the Trust for Public Land. But then a funny thing happened.   Aaron's chosen successor for D3 supervisor, David Chiu, won the seat and took over after Aaron was termed out in 2008. Then, in 2014, Chiu ran for an California Assembly seat and won. Then-Mayor Ed Lee appointed Julie Christensen. A special election in late-2015 saw Peskin run against Christensen, mostly at the urging of Rose Pak. He won that election, as well as the "normal" district election the following year. By the end of this year, he'll be termed out again.   Highlights of Aaron's second stint on the Board of Supervisors, for him, include: He's become the senior member of the Board, having served with 42 different other members. He's also come to relish the role of mentor for new supervisors. He goes over a litany of other legislation he's either written or helped to get passed   Moving forward to the issues of today and Aaron's run for mayor, he starts by praising the Board and the Mayor's Office for coming together to deal with COVID. Then he talks about ways that he and Mayor London Breed have worked together in their times in office.   And then we get into Aaron's decision, which he announced this April, to run for mayor. It was a love for The City and the people who live here. It was a lack of what he deems "real choices" in the race. But it was also what Aaron and many others, including myself, see as a billionaire-funded, ultra-conservative attempt to take over politics in San Francisco. It all added up to something he felt he had to do.   Aaron says that, unlike his first run for supervisor, when it comes to his candidacy for mayor, he's "in it to win it."   We recorded this podcast at Aaron Peskin for Mayor HQ in July 2024.   Photography by Jeff Hunt

EPISODE 66: SKATESHOP COMMUNICATION Brought to you by Magical Mosh Misfits スケートについての言いたい放題のトークショー“SHUT UP & SKATE”。 今回は巷で話題の“Skateshop Communication”の実態について。 Batsu、Highsox、California Street、instant、Growthの店主らが朝まで激論。 JIMA（@jimabien） MxMxM Skateboardsのチーマネ／MC SHIGERU（@growth_sb） 水戸のスケートショップGrowthの店主 YUICHI OHARA（@california_street） カリストことCalifornia Streetの古株 49n（@batsuskateboardshop） 柏のスケートショップBatsuの店主 TK（@highsoxskateboards） 池袋のスケートショップHighsoxの店長 KOJIRO（@instant_skateboards） instantで活躍中の敏腕マネージャー Sound design by Stone'd（@stonedisd） ※収録内容はあくまでもパーソナリティの記憶に拠るもので、事実を保証するものではありません。出演者の発言についてのお問い合わせは本人までお願いします。聞き苦しい箇所、間違いや未確認情報など多々ありますので予めご了承ください m(_ _)m https://www.vhsmag.com/shut-up-skate/episode-66/

Following the devastating floods in parts of Connecticut, dozens of businesses were destroyed, including a local preschool. We spoke with Marta Saklawska, the owner and Director of Creative Starts Learning Center in Oxford, which serves more than 50 kids each year. If you want to make a monetary donation:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-creative-starts-rebuild-after-flood?qid=136d6a177df90823fcf26734d06ffe4a You also can donate pre-school aged items (ie. books, toys) and drop off items at the daycare's Stratford locations: 61 California Street or 2189 Barnum Avenue Image Credit: Marta Saklawska

San Francisco based author/professor Donna Levin talks about her latest release “The Talking Stick” as a dramady about four women who discover that some of their most cherished memories are romanticized versions of the truth and go on a reclamation journey finding humor, truth, romance and a better path by deconstructing memory and emotion while exposing a wannabe cult leader along the way! Donna has taught fiction writing for 3 decades at UC Extension at Berkley, plus her previous works including “Extraordinary Means”, “California Street”, “There's More Than One Way Home”, “He Could Be Another Bill Gates” while the L.A. Times call her a novelist to keep high on her reading list and her papers are part of a collection at Boston University and the Cal. St. Library! Check out the amazing Donna Levin and her latest release on many major platforms and www.donnalevin.com today! #donnalevin #sanfrancisco #author #writingprofessor #thetalkingstick #UCextensionatberkely #extraordinarymeans #californiastreet #billgates #LAtimes #spreaker #iheartradio #spotify #applemusic #youtube #anchorfm #bitchute #rumble #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnerdonanlevin #themikewagnershowdonnalevinBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-mike-wagner-show--3140147/support.

Tonight, we serve T-E-A together to make a difference. Author Donna LevinTeatime with Miss Liz joined by Author Donna Levin for her new book “The Talking Stick.”Donna is bringing a strong T-E-A of T=TenaciousE=EmpathicA=AwareJoin us on June 24th at 7 PM EST for the live open discussion. Bring your support, comments and questions and make a difference together. Author Donna LevinWITH A QUICK SUBSCRIPTION TO MISS LIZS YOUTUBE CHANNEL BELOW: https://lnkd.in/eyUnWa5q Meet my Guest: Donna Levin's work is included in Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and the California State Library's collection of California novels. Donna Levin is the author of Extraordinary Means, California Street, There's More Than One Way Home, and He Could Be Another Bill Gates. In April, 2024, Skyhorse published her latest novel, The Talking Stick, a dramedy about four women discovering that some of their most cherished memories are romanticized versions of the truth. In addition to novels, Donna has published two books about writing: Get that Novel Started and Get that Novel Written, both with Writer's Digest Books. Donna has taught fiction writing for three decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the novel writing workshop. She has also been a frequent guest at writers' conferences, including the San Francisco Writers' Conference and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. The Los Angeles Times has called Donna Levin “a novelist to keep high on your reading list,” she has also been reviewed by the New York Times. Her fifth novel, a dramedy titled “The Talking Stick,” was released on April 23rd, and she has also written two books on writing. Her work is included in Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and the California State Library's collection of California novels.https://lnkd.in/e3ZjFjCF#teatimewithmissliz#misslizstea#misslizsteatime#makingadifference#podcast#OpenDiscussion#joinus#livestreaming#authorlife#author#editor#writingteacher#Thetalkingstick#novelist

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Are you curious about what's happening with the open retail space in downtown Redding? Well, we have good news for you! Today we connect with Erin Ross, Communications and Asset ambassador for K2 Development Companies, to fill us in on all the good things coming to Downtown. She will give an overview of what K2 is and why they are passionate about improving the Redding Community. She'll also touch on Placemaking and why that is such an important ingredient to the success of a vibrant and healthy community.Not to give anything away, but if you haven't heard about the Redding Public Market, get excited. If you've ever been to Oxbow Market in Napa or the Ferry Plaza Building in San Francisco, you'll know what is coming to Redding in the Summer of 2024.  In fact, the visionary behind these two renowned markets is helping shape the vision for the Redding version.We'll also cover the plans for California Street, paid parking downtown, and a new development coming soon along the North end of Market Street.More information on K2 Development>>Read the transcript>>Contact the City of Redding Podcast Team Email us at podcast@cityofredding.org Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Visit the City of Redding website Love the podcast? The best way to spread the word is to rate and review!

What does it take to run for office as a person with a disability? Rebecca LaMorte We talk to Rebecca Lamorte, who ran for city council in New York on a platform on disability rights.  Listen as she talks about her experiences running for a major office in the Big Apple. We also talk to Ventura City Council Member Liz Campos about working at a city hall that is inaccessible, her challenges finding accessible housing, and how she ran a successful campaign on only $3,000. Liz Campos Lastly, we talk to Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds about the unique challenges of being Colorado's first elected official with a physical disability. Chris Hinds This episode of Pushing Limits is hosted and edited by Denny Daughters, and produced and written by  Jacob Lesner-Buxton. Check out this database of elected officials with disabilities.    Add your favorite politician with a disability to the list. Rebecca Lamorte Website Campaign website for Liz Campos Website for Council Member Chris-Hinds Transcript Denny Daughters:  Welcome to Pushing Limits, KPFA's program by and about people with disabilities. We air every Friday afternoon at 2.30 p.m.  I'm Denny Daughters and I'll be voicing a script written by Jacob Lester Buxton. According to a 2019 estimate by Rutgers University, 10.3% of elected officials serving in federal, state, or local government have a disability.  People with disabilities are twice as likely to serve as local officials rather than as state or federal representatives. Today we will be talking to people with disabilities who have run for public office at the local level. Our first guest is Rebecca Lamorte.  She's a lobbyist for a labor union and she lives in Manhattan. In 2021, she ran for a seat on the New York City Council.  There were a total of seven candidates.  Unfortunately, she lost the election, coming in at third place. We asked Rebecca.  What motivated her to run? Rebecca Lamorte:   Anger, honestly. When I was pushed on the subway, I was 22 years old.  And I had just finished college.  I had just moved in to my first apartment alone in New York City. You know, I had my student loans, I had my bills, I had my friends. And in an instant, everything changed for me where I went from taking my body for granted and not looking at a flight of stairs, for example, and thinking twice about them to not being able to really leave my own apartment building for a long time because it had stairs and dealing with rude and invasive questions and comments and being faced with discrimination on the job and in public places. The most egregious thing for me that really made me and pushed me to take that step to decide I am gonna run for office is one day I was at New York City Hall for work.  I'm a lobbyist, I work for a labor union, and I have for 12 years now.  And at City Hall that day with union members, I was there with my cane and security told me if I couldn't walk up the stairs, maybe I didn't belong there.  And I got so angry.  I almost couldn't speak.  I was so angry because I felt if this is happening to me, what's happening to other people? Who cares about us?  Who's fighting for us?  Who else is experiencing this?  And so angry and so upset right now when they're just living life and going about their day like everybody else.  And I wanted to take my anger and do something positive from it.  And for me, working in the government space and being interested in politics, that was running for office to give disabled people like myself and others a seat at the table where decisions are made.   Where I was now witnessing and now very aware that those decisions were being made in ways that harmed us and harmed our community and ignored our needs, ignored accessibility, ignored disability rights and the inclusive society and city we could have.  And that's what made me throw my hat in the race for 2021.   Denny:   Lamorte put disability front and center of her campaign.  It raised some eyebrows among political people in the city. Rebecca:  Yes and no.  So, there have been some people in public office with disabilities.  Not everyone has been comfortable speaking about their disabilities, which I very much so understand.  You know, not many people go out every day in the world and get asked about their bodies and have people expect that we'll respond and share everything that's happening with us. But that's unfortunately reality for people with disabilities.  And there have been people in elected office in New York that haven't been comfortable speaking about their life, speaking about their accessibility needs, speaking about their lived experience as a person with a disability because of that stigma and discrimination, which is really unfortunate and keeps other disabled people from speaking out, feeling that commonality, knowing they have an ally in government. But outside of that, we've had some really great people in office right now. We have our first disabled New York City council member, a woman named Shahana Hanif from Brooklyn.  We used to have another amazing woman, Yuh-Line Niou in the New York State Assembly.  She unfortunately isn't there anymore, but we have some other great people out there fighting for us and making sure we have a seat at the table. But we need some more people.  Just having, you know, between five and 10 people with disabilities in office isn't going to change the conversation.  We need more voices in the chorus for us.   Denny:  To create the campaign she wanted to run, Rebecca first had to look inward.  There's the nitty gritty stuff, filing your paperwork to run for office.  Like you said, I made my decision and then I was like, well, what do I do now?  Like how do I make it a reality?  I'm, I'm, I'm here. I'm going to run, but what do I do? And so I did the like the nitty gritty stuff, file paperwork, tell the government I'm running, told local elected officials in the neighborhood that I was running, reached out to people in politics, consultants, other people I knew saying I'm going to run, what's your advice? And unfortunately, in doing that, I started getting back comments that wanting to run on a platform of disability issues, disability justice, as I refer to it for my campaign platform, that that was a niche issue.  And I should first run, then win, and work on it and tell people I care about it. And that was really hurtful for me as a disabled person, because it's like, well, do you see me every day when I'm out like this?  Like my life isn't a niche issue.  There are so many New Yorkers that have this experience too. So my first real campaign thing was getting comfortable, being uncomfortable as a disabled person, getting comfortable sharing things about my life, about my opinions, my experiences, my feelings, about my physical body — about certain social and emotional impacts that I deal with from being a person with a disability out in society that can be really difficult at times for us. And so that was the first thing.  Getting comfortable as a disabled woman, what I was comfortable talking about, how I was comfortable talking about it and really rooting myself that this was a campaign for disability justice, and everything would always pivot back to that center.   Denny:  We asked Rebecca how she handled being perceived as the woman who only talked about disability issues during her campaign. Rebecca:  That was the lady with a cane, the one trick pony with a cane. I would call myself at a point in time.  Um, what you're saying is true.  There were some people that would be able to see the far through the trees with me of affordable housing is a disability issue.  We need affordable, accessible housing and it's not just accessible with an elevator in the building.  That's my disability experience, but there are other people with disabilities that, okay, you need to have your handles lower.  You need to have your counter heights changed.   Denny:  Surely a candidate like Rebecca, who is so passionate about disability would be fully embraced by everyone in the community. Rebecca:  So unfortunately, there wasn't much support from formal disability groups for me during my campaign in New York City.  We have what is called the 504 Democrats, which is a citywide disability center Democratic club. And they endorsed a person without a disability in my race. And it really upset me. And that unfortunately kind of colored my experience and opinion with them and some other formal groups going forward. Coming from the political space, I understand wanting to go to the power and wanting to have a seat at the table.  And sometimes you have to choose the person that's going to win, even if there's someone else you like better.  But with something as personal as running for office with a disability, how few people do it and to have a candidate running so vocally, opening and powerfully as a woman with a disability on a campaign rooted in disability justice — that was really, really hurtful. I'm not going to lie to you. But outside of that, I was very blessed to have individual disability advocates from throughout the country come together to help me learn about disability issues that are not personal to me in my experience as a disabled woman, to help me meet other people that could offer advice that had run for office or were working within the government space and had experience with this.  And so it was those individuals that really surrounded me and gave me the cocoon of love from our community that I do wish had been there from other larger organizations, but just unfortunately was not, because politics makes for strange bedfellows as the saying goes, right?   Denny:  As a result of her campaign, Rebecca became more active in disability rights movements, including mentoring others who want to run for office. Rebecca:  I'm a board member of an organization called Disability Victory, which is aimed specifically at helping disabled people run for office and or work on campaigns that are accessible and engender real disability justice and disability inclusion in them. And through that, we do campaign trainings where it's everything from how do you talk about being a person with a disability on a campaign, getting comfortable with that, what you want to share, what you don't want to share.  Kind of like I spoke about with my own journey and experience on that — things like how do you develop a campaign platform?  And how do you then pivot those issues back to disability justice and disability rights? We actually just did a great hour-long talk about that specifically where I led the conversation.  I had everyone choose a policy.  And by the end of the hour, we took that policy from not being about disability rights to making it about disability rights to show that it is possible and these aren't niche issues.   And, if people are interested, they can follow Disability Victory on Facebook, X and Instagram. And we also have a website, DisabilityVictory.org. And we're doing more trainings coming up in 2024. Our next one will be about canvassing with a disability because, not surprising for anyone here that's listening, it's not so easy.   And campaigns are not made for disabled people.  And that's people like myself with mobility aids and mobility issues.  That's for people that are blind, that's for people that are deaf, that's for so many different disabled people because campaigns are made for one kind of person and it's a cis white rich man — typically. And that's not politics. That's not my politics. That's not what I want our country, our society, my city to be.  And so Disability Victory is working on that specifically.  And so in January, we'll be talking about canvassing with a disability.  We're going to be having some fireside chats to also just offer more emotional support for candidates in this space because running for office is so difficult and isolating.  But when you're running with a disability, it's even more so because traditional spaces in politics aren't made for us and they don't include us. And when we do go to them, we'll be made to feel that way, at least in my experience at times here in New York.  So, making sure that we have a space that is specifically for us.  And I'm really proud that that's Disability Victory now.   Denny:  In the world of politics, we were interested how Rebecca developed a thick skin. Rebecca:  I was born with a bit of a thick skin.  It definitely got thicker, though, after my subway accident. You know, when you go out every day and people see you and they're gonna pry and they're gonna ask questions, they're gonna look at you differently, and I am out here with an invisible disability with my cane — and I still get those stares and those questions and those uncomfortable moments.  So, it's made me develop a much thicker skin.  It's also made me get really quippy.  Like for example, when I walk down the sidewalk in my neighborhood and people are staring at me, I like to stop and look at them and go, “Show's here all day everybody” and then watch them laugh and get uncomfortable.  I also like to call people out if they're staring.  I'll be like “Let me do a trick!”  And then, they like look away anxiously and uncomfortably.  It's made me develop a thick skin but also, it's given me a confidence in myself that [pause]. I was always a confident person before, but it's a different and it's difficult to put into words the kind of confidence that comes from knowing who you are when you may be at your lowest.  And even if you're not there physically, but emotionally at your lowest from what someone has said or done or how you're feeling that day or (for me), what my mobility is that day.  And just knowing that still doesn't define who you are.   And if people see you as just that, that's a reflection on them. And it's such a confidence that I feel very lucky to have. And it's something that it took a while for me to develop, but I'm here now and I'm really thankful to be.  And to feel this good about myself 10 years in the game.  Lately, Rebecca offers motivation to those with disabilities who are interested in running for political office.  If you're a person with a disability, thinking about running for office, it's probably the scariest thing you've ever thought about for big and small reasons but it could also be the best thing you've ever thought about. I didn't win, but I am so thankful that I ran for office.  I am thankful for what it taught me about myself, what it taught me about disability rights, disability issues.  I'm thankful for the community it helped me create around myself.  And I'm also thankful for the platform it's given me as a person with a disability to now call out things that I see, share my experiences, shine a light on things that so many people have said, ‘I never thought about that, Rebecca'. Just today, a friend texted me, ‘a woman with a walker can't get down the subway stairs right now, and I wouldn't have thought about that if it wasn't for you', — talking about subway accessibility.  And that's a small thing, but that's someone that would have never thought about that if I hadn't been out there running as I was and talking about things like I did and getting comfortable being uncomfortable at times.  And so it's the scariest thing you may be thinking about, but it could be the best thing you've ever done, not just for yourself, for your community, for our larger disability community, for our country.   Because if we don't have a seat at the table, we're on the menu and policies never have us in mind.  And so we have to put ourselves in people's mind. So take that step!  Be bold!  Don't be afraid!  And feel free to reach out to me on social media, because I'm always going to be here to tell you that, you know, you're either a Smart A [Beep] with a mobility aid like me or, you know, something else that will build you up and get you back out there in the streets fighting for us.  Because we need more voices in our disability chorus.   Denny:  You're listening to Pushing Limits on 94.1 KPFA. I'm Denny Daughters.  We just heard from Rebecca Lamorte who ran for a New York City Council position in 2021.  Today, we are talking to people with disabilities who run for public office.  Our next guest is Liz Campos who sets on the Ventura City Council.  Campos decided to run for office because she was frustrated that city hall wasn't responding to the needs of the people in her community.  94.1 KPFA. Liz Campos:   Well, I've been active in my community for 20 years and particularly the last 10 years I spent on the board of the Westside Community Council, my neighborhood community council.  And after becoming chair of that board, I realized that City Council wasn't listening to the people, the diverse voices in the community properly.  I also, for almost seven years, attended every city council meeting, listened to what they were doing, spoke to them many times often with no result.  And I decided that it's important for people to be on an elected body who will listen to the entire community. So I didn't come just to be a voice for people with disabilities, but to be a voice for everyone who feels disenfranchised.   Denny:  While many people in the Compos community were excited by her candidacy, those in City Hall sang a different tune. Liz:  Because I had been active in my community.   Ventura has districts. My district is about 8,000 registered voters. But I had spent two and a half years in my community holding public rallies to fight against the expansion of a Southern California gas compressor that is across the street from an elementary school.  And that alone is disabling many children not just with asthma, but with central nervous system problems and cancers. So the community knew me already from that battle and had gotten accustomed to seeing me in the wheelchair, but knowing that I was there for them.  So, my community didn't show a lot of disdain or problem for me as a person with a disability. Where the pushback came was from a couple of the other candidates but also from some of the higher-level city staff who looked at me as an imbecile or had the attitude that I would never be able to serve on city council.  And so, I shouldn't be encouraged.  And that was a difficult battle, both before and after getting elected.   Denny:   Ventura City Hall wasn't ready for Campos to assume office, or any person with a physical disability for that matter.   Liz:  Ah Ventura City Hall is not the most accessible location, in part because it's up on the top of a pretty steep hill, California Street.  It has a beautiful view of the ocean, but for a person in a wheelchair — a manual wheelchair cannot make it up the hill by its own steam. I'm in an electric wheelchair and I can roll up to City Hall, but when I leave City Hall, I have to roll backwards because the hill is too steep.  And that's just to get to City Hall. There is a ramp on the street level that goes up into the building. And that is there because about 11 years ago, I sued the city for access. So they made the public area more accessible with bathrooms and a ramp and electronic doors. When I got elected to City Council, anyone would have expected that the council dais and council area would be made accessible. December 12th will be my one-year anniversary and I still cannot use the bathroom where all the other Council members use the bathroom. I have to leave the dais, exit the Council area out into the hallway, and go to the other end of the building for an accessible bathroom during meetings. For the first several months, the way I got up on the dais was they threw a piece of plywood over a steep staircase. And so I would roll up, but again, I had to roll backwards off of that.  And this was all during the tenure of that acting city manager who was here, who wasn't happy about me being here.  My wheelchair ultimately got broken rolling down because it started to slide sideways, and the brakes broke.  So, the city's paying for the repair of that wheelchair. That acting city manager resigned, and our new city manager is incredibly kind and generous and working very hard to ensure not just my access, but everybody's. He's had the city hold trainings for every staff member to learn about disability access.  And so, I appreciate that none of that would have happened had I not been here. And it's not just about me. It's about every person in the community that is challenged with barriers to access.   Denny:   One of their priorities for Liz is creating more accessible and affordable housing in the city, an issue she is currently experiencing. Liz:   So, I still have not found housing in my district that is wheelchair accessible and affordable.  And the cost of housing in Ventura just keeps getting higher and higher.  So, I'm currently living in a [pause]. It's, it's a van, but it's not a little tiny van.  It formerly was an access bus and a paratransit bus.   So, it has a ramp.  It's pretty big.  It's about 16 feet of living space. I have solar panels on top.  I can cook.  I have a camping toilet.  So, it suffices while I'm still looking for housing. But really — Affordable housing for people with disabilities and seniors on limited income does not currently exist in the city of Ventura except through Section Eight.  And the Section Eight waiting list currently is 15 years long.   Denny:  Upon hearing what Liz spent on her campaign, our interviewer Jacob was speechless. Liz:  I didn't raise a lot of money. I probably spent the least money of anyone who's ever run for Ventura City Council.  And people who are rich will spend a lot of money, but it really isn't about the money as much as about how you connect with people.  I put a website up that cost me $100, and I used it for fundraising.  And I had all the videos from the rallies I did and from public meetings and… I think I posted a video from one of the events I did with the ILRC [Independent Living Resource Center], and then I just made a couple short videos talking about the cost of running, but how important it is for me to be there to represent the people. I put a PayPal link to the campaign bank account, and I raised just about $3,000. Of that money, I had two events in a park and gave away free tacos that cost about $1,200.  And I spent $800 on t-shirts saying Vote for Liz Campos in two languages.  And I gave away the t-shirts free.  I had 2,000 t-shirts of all sizes.  So, people in my district were walking billboards for me. The other thing that's important to do is to meet with unions or organizations.  iIf you get their support and get an endorsement who will knock on doors for you. Because both Santa Barbara and Ventura, for example, are a little bit hilly and they're old.  There's narrow sidewalks.  There's front gates that a wheelchair can't get through.  People don't answer their doors to strangers. Because I couldn't knock on doors myself, I held events at the park. But I had CAUSE who endorsed me, and Stonewall Democrats and the county Democrats endorsed me, and they knocked on all the doors in my neighborhoods for me.  And they also paid for mailers.  Because they endorsed me, they paid for the mailers.  So, when I finished my campaign, I had $800 left that I donated to a local nonprofit organization.   Denny:   Like Rebecca, Liz also offers words of encouragement to people with disabilities who are interested in running for public office. Liz:  Don't hesitate to do it.  Get to know other people as much as possible.  Speak at rallies and events.  And make sure you get video of those things so that you can put it online when you're running.  That way other people who don't know you get to know you. But I think that there are people still who have animosity to us as people with disabilities, but more and more people are recognizing we're not so different from them. So, I would encourage everybody who wants to run for public office to run.  Even if you lose the first time, keep at it because it helps everybody in the disability community — win or lose — if people see us in public and hear us speak and recognize that we're good people.   Denny:   Our last guest is Chris Hinds on the Denver City Council. Chris Hinds:  I'm the first elected official in Denver's history, local, state or federal, who uses a wheelchair to get around.  My decision to seek elected office is because we've never had disability representation in Denver.  I have an acquired disability.  I grew up as an able-bodied individual.  I was in a crash in 2008. The Democratic National Convention was here in Denver in 2008. I was on a bike and got hit by a car.  So, um, I went from being on three soccer teams to, uh, learning how to sit up in bed and, uh, I have a spinal cord injury.  It is a T-3, do, um, third thoracic vertebra and, uh, I now use a wheelchair to get around. I started looking around and I didn't see people with disabilities in areas of power or influence, or I couldn't find a lot of role models that I really wanted to aspire to be.  You know, as the Gandhi quote is, “Be the change you want to see in the world”.  I realized that it was important for me, if I felt like I could represent people with disabilities, then I had an obligation to do so.   Denny:   Chris talks about a few challenges he faced while trying to run for office. Chris:   You know, much of campaigning is knocking on doors and telling people, you know, sharing with people, one-on-one, your story. I can't do that because most of the homes have at least one step right before the front entrance.  In some ways that was great for me because I can't knock on any doors at all because of my wheelchair and those steps to get to the front door, but no one else could either.  Because 80% of the people I represent in central Denver live in apartments or condominium buildings, you know, secure access buildings. Campaigning is grueling for anyone.  It, it takes a lot of time.  It takes a lot of energy.  It takes, it takes a lot of focus.  And so, someone with a, you know, with a disability has to spend more time doing things and can't do things that other people can.  And so being a candidate and campaigning and making phone calls and worrying about pressure sores, some pressure ulcers. I don't have control over my bowel or bladder function like I used to, because just it's all paralyzed.  I would be at a venue, turns out that the restroom wasn't wheelchair accessible.  I mean, there were times when I would pee on myself.  In addition to having to learn how to say something compelling to someone and really get them to want to vote for me instead of anyone else, I also had the more basic thing of I'm being myself, how do I minimize that? How do I keep someone from realizing that I am embarrassing myself in a public space?   Denny:  There are people with a wide variety of disabilities serving in various positions all across the USA. The National Council of Independent Living maintains an online database of elected officials that Jacob used to find guests for today's show. A link to the database can be found on the KPFA archives page for this show. We'd like to thank today's guests, Rebecca, Liz and Chris. And thanks also to the whole Pushing Limits collective for another great year of Disability Radio. Today's interviews and script were done by Jacob Lesner Buxton, announcing and audio production by Denny Daughters. Contact us by email (all one word) PushingLimits at KPFA.org, catch us on Facebook at Pushing Limits Radio, or you can visit our website at Pushing Limits Radio.org.   Stay tuned for Talk It Out.  This is 94.1 KPFA.   Keep on Pushing Theme Song. [Keep on Pushing sung by Curtis Mayfield] The post Politicians with Disabilities – Pushing Limits – December 29, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Jon Summers is The Motoring Historian. He was a company car thrashing, technology sales rep that turned into a fairly inept sports bike rider. Hailing from California, he collects cars and bikes built with plenty of cheap and fast, and not much reliable. On his show, he gets together with various co-hosts to talk about new and old cars, driving, motorbikes, motor racing, and motoring travel. Special Guest Dinsmore Greep! Topics Covered on this Episode: c.2010 Mercedes Sprinter 2.2 litre turbo diesel, 5 speed manual In praise of Mercedes cruise control - stalk C.2015 Mercedes Sprinter Supermarket refrigerated delivery van, automatic M beats the governor with a neutral drop Sprinter vs. VW Crafter  A fiery Sprinter and a ten mile tail back on the A38 A fiery Ford Orion A Fiat Ducato, a lost crabstick and a Cornish dry stone wall  Slayer - Die By The Sword Dukes of Hazzard in a Citroen C35 Driving 7.5 ton trucks on a car license in England; U-haul rentals in the US Mercedes 308 The white/work van “get out of the way” effect 2010 Fiat Ducato 2010 Renault Master VW Crafter, “shat nav”, and narrow Devon lanes “Floor it and get throught, that'll be the answer” “At Dagenham and Dartford” A can of beer in a Ford Transit J's brown ‘93 Ford Econoline An unintentional burnout on California Street, San Francisco Judas Priest and Steel Panther in San Jose J's bespoke fitting of a velour driver seat from the Econoline Chateaux A bachelor party LDV duallie taking up 8 parking places A Ginster's pasty Early noughties Ford Transits - fast! Gated communities of Cornwall Slayer - Spirit In Black Turning in Driveways Memories of a Rental House in Reading; an Alfa 33 on the lawn; strimming the lawn   Greep's Corsa VXR 125mph Mitsubishi M's BMW M2, Nissan 350Z and Honda CBR600RR: fettling required A sidebar on Slayer Vauxhall Cavalier SRi Peugeot 309 Gixxer and potholes M's Fiesta ST Broken Throttle body Dio at the Hammersmith Odeon and Pee in the Radiator of a Ford Sierra Fixing Overheating by running the Heater Mad Max Falcon Ronin Audi S8 Sux 6000 (Robocop)  Toyota Yaris and Corolla GR Greep experiences a Tesla BMW CE04 electric moped Revel (who have since left San Francisco) J needs 50mph, not 30mph from his e moped Music sampled on this episode:  Slayer - Altar of Sacrifice Slayer - The AntiChrist Slayer - Behind the Crooked Cross Slayer - South of Heaven Slayer - I Don't Want To Hear It Copyright Jon Summers, The Motoring Historian. This episode is part of our Motoring Podcast Network and has been republished with permission. ===== (Oo---x---oO) ===== The Motoring Podcast Network : Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - motoringpodcast.net Check out our membership program and go VIP at: https://www.patreon.com/gtmotorsports Other cool stuff: https://www.gtmotorsports.org/links

The Bazaar Cafe at 5927 California Street is celebrating its 25th anniversary, so Nicole & Arnold look at the history of the building and its occupants.

ICYMI: Later, with Mo'Kelly Presents – Thoughts on musicians like Eddy Grant and Eminem opposing the use of their music by politicians like Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy…PLUS – The correct pronunciations of California streets - on KFI AM 640 – Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

What's the state of commercial real estate in San Francisco, California? I will be giving you my personal insights of what I have seen happen to the city and what I think has led the city to its current demise. Read this entire episode here: bit.ly/3NExVNY 1. A San Francisco office building that was worth $300 million pre-pandemic is now in contract for around $60 million. And that is between 200 to 225/sf. The building next door at 550 California St is reportedly in contracts for $130 a square foot. Lastly, a friend of mine put an offer in an office building about a month ago, her offer was $75 a square foot and although she did not get the building, she ended up going to the second round, which means that people are considering $75/sf offers. Let that sink in for a bit! Rent was getting close to $100/sf per year. And now you are able to buy an entire office building for between 1.5-2 years worth of rent pre-pandemic. 2. Uber announced that they will be leasing out their entire office building in San Francisco. 3. Google announced that they will be shedding 1.4 million square feet of office space in Silicon Valley. As we all know commercial loans are 3, 5 or 7 year fixed, a lot of them are coming up and they have to refinance at not only double the interest rates, but also they have to refinance when their office building is completely vacant - and nobody will give you financing for that. Operators are returning the keys to the bank, or they are having fire sales which is what happened with this 350 California Street building. 4. Nordstrom is closing both of its Stores in downtown San Francisco, citing the changing dynamics of the area that hasn't recovered since the pandemic and has been in the spotlight for crime. 5. AT&T just announced that they're closing its flagship store, citing declining customer visits, occupancy and sales. 6. Cinemark also just decided to permanently close the Century San Francisco Centre 9 and XD theater following a review of local business conditions. 7. Whole Foods in Downtown San Francisco Closing a Year After Opening due to safety issues. 8. Several Other Major Retailer closures since the pandemic: Saks Off Fifth, Anthropologie, Office Depot, Amazon Go, The Real Real, CB2, Banana Republic, Athleta, The Container Store, Crate and Barrel, Disney, Marshalls, H&M, The Gap. Imagine how many hundreds of 1,000s if not millions of square feet will be available for rent right now in the retail space alone in this city? But who would want to open anything when criminals can steal what they want, technically up to $950. There are homeless tents in many of these major streets. These people are on drugs, a lot of the times shooting themselves up with needles. Sometimes you're stepping on needles yourself, sometimes they're defecating or urinating right in front of you. Why and who would want to take up that space for rent and who would even be successful there to begin with? 9. Westfield Mall announces that they are returning the keys to the bank, they have been operating in the San Francisco center for over two decades. They are attributing this decision to the challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to decline in sales, occupancy, and foot traffic. 10. Hilton Union Square (which is one of the largest hotels in the city, an entire block) along with Park 55 Hotel will be stopping payments on their loan. 11. Huntington Hotel and Yotel were recently sold in foreclosure auctions. This is not only because San Francisco took a very long time to get out of the COVID mentality, but also, because of the crime and all of the issues with the homeless and everything else. 12. People don't want to have conferences in San Francisco anymore. Hotels are struggling. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/steffbold Join our investor club: https://montecarlorei.com/investors --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/best-commercial-retail-real-estate-investing-advice-ever/support

San Francisco's downtown office tower market seems to be a falling deck of cards. An example? A high-rise in the heart of the financial district is on the brink of selling for less than half its value 18 years ago. No, that's not a misprint. The 13-story tower at 550 California Street, currently owned by Wells Fargo, is set to go for around $42.6 million. A stunning drop from its $108 million purchase price in '05 and a fraction of its current assessed value of $155 million.Times have changed, indeed. A perfect storm of circumstances has led businesses to reassess their brick-and-mortar presence. The rise of remote work during the pandemic has caused companies to question the need for vast office space. Even big tech companies like Amazon have seen pushback from employees favoring remote work. This shift in working culture, coupled with a tech market that's taken a hit, has contributed to San Francisco's commercial real estate tumble.So, what's next? With San Francisco's recovery path shrouded in uncertainty due to both old and new challenges, it's tough to predict. Some believe that the shift to remote work might be a more permanent fixture, as many have discovered they can do their jobs just as effectively from home. As each downtown office building grapples with its occupancy future, the fate of commercial real estate in the financial district hangs in the balance.#SanFranciscoRealEstate #OfficeSpaceCrisis #RemoteWorkRevolutionSupport the show

*NEW ITEM!* Purchase my newest book! "15 Conversations with Real Estate Millionaires" https://amzn.to/3CGOWOU

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has listed a San Francisco office tower once valued at $300 million, but now expected to generate offers at about 80 percent less.The U.S. unit of the Tokyo-based bank has put its 22-story glass-and-stone tower at 350 California Street in the Financial District up for sale, the Wall Street Journal reported. The building was valued at $300 million in 2019. Bids are expected to come in from $60 million, commercial real-estate brokers say. Before the pandemic, California Street was home to some of the world's most valuable commercial real estate. Now, in the era of remote work, the city's office vacancy has jumped to a record 32.7 percent, more than seven times the rate before the pandemic.Some of the city's most noted corporate tenants, from Salesforce to Meta Platforms, have sublet offices, flooding the market with square footage. Support the showSign Up For Exclusive Episodes At: https://reasonabletv.com/LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos every day. https://www.youtube.com/c/NewsForReasonablePeople

Around lunchtime on California street this Thursday, downtown San Francisco appeared to be busy and bustling. But look a little closer, and you'd see the signs all around: "Retail Space for Lease," one read.Right now, roughly 30% of all downtown office space is vacant in San Francisco. According to data from Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis, it was just 3% in 2019 before the pandemic.Among those vacant offices is 350 California Street -- a 22-story tower that once sat on some of the most valuable commercial real estate in the country. But now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the building may be valued 80% less than it was four years ago.The WSJ reports that the building was worth around $300 million in 2019. And that, now up for sale, bids are expected to come in at about just $60 million.The story of 350 California Street is an example of just how dire the situation has become downtown as tech companies move towards remote work and vacate the once booming downtown area.Support the showSign Up For Exclusive Episodes At: https://reasonabletv.com/LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos every day. https://www.youtube.com/c/NewsForReasonablePeople

In today's episode, we get some key updates on the construction progress happening downtown from Mark Christ, Associate Community Project Coordinator with the City of Redding.  We also learn more about the unique architectural design of some of the California Street developments. Mark fills us in on the status of the Block 7 project, including the California Place Apartments and the Shasta College building.  He also provides some great updates on the CA St alley, general streets and circulation projects, and the upcoming urban park downtown.  Fun fact, the majority of these projects will be completed before the end of 2023.  Mark also talks about why it has taken so long to fill some of the commercial spaces and why we should still have a reason for optimism.Mark is the expert on all things downtown Redding redevelopment and we are excited to have him with us today.Read the transcript>>Contact the City of Redding Podcast Team Email us at podcast@cityofredding.org Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Love the podcast? The best way to spread the word is to rate and review!

Downtown Discussion: Parking Podcast- City of Redding Transportation Planner, Zach Bonnin,  joins Viva Downtown Program Coordinator, Blake Fisher, to discuss The City of Redding's restructured Downtown Parking Plan that is set to be implemented in the new year after January 23, 2023. Zach, shares the history of parking in Downtown, the functionality of this restructured plan, and the timeline/realities of parking changes and how they affect Downtown transportation and the Downtown economy. This is an episode you do not want to miss. For more information on the City of Redding Parking Program, visit cityofredding.org/downtownparking. As always thank you for supporting Downtown and Downtown businesses.  The City of Redding has more than 2,000 on-street and public off-street parking spaces in the Downtown core that will be available for use. Two private parking facilities Downtown provide additional public spaces, with 400 in the large parking garage on California Street and 60 spaces available in the garage under Market Center, located at 1551 Market Street.- The rate for Downtown public metered parking or parking in City-owned lots will be $1.00 per hour, Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm.  Parking is free on nights, weekends, and holidays, with no time limits after 6 pm. - -Privately-owned parking garages require payment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, up to $8.00 daily. Hundreds of free parking spaces without time limits are located just outside the paid parking zones and are available for anyone willing to walk a couple of blocks.During this transition, metered parking in Downtown Redding will be free of charge, beginning Monday, December 19th, through Monday, January 23, 2023.  Parking time limits  will still apply, as stated in the parking  signage. Parking enforcement will notify drivers of the parking options ahead of the implementation of the new system. Beginning Monday, January 23, 2023, the payment system for metered parking downtown will be active. Warning notices for non-payment will be issued for the first couple weeks, at which time parking enforcement will begin issuing tickets.-The parking system will utilize physical pay stations located throughout the Downtown core, in addition to other payment options. The pay stations will accept payment by coin, credit, or debit card.-A second payment method, a mobile app called “Flowbird,” is available for download on smartphones and will identify your specific parking location, allowing easy payment with your smartphone. Once your vehicle and method of payment are entered, payments will be made simply and remotely, without the need to visit a pay station.-The third payment option will allow users to pay via text, without the need for an app. This option, which is expected to come online in January 2023, will allow for a one-time payment, accessed by texting “ParkRDG” to 727563. This method will also provide text reminders to alert the user to the remaining time left on the parking meter and an option to add more time via text. The Downtown Discussion is a podcast that focuses on the people who enhance Downtown Redding through social, cultural, and economic development. Thank you Zach Bonnin and the City of Redding for joining Viva Downtown. The Downtown Discussion is produced by: Viva Event Coordinator, Jacob Akana. 

ICYMI: The Mo'Kelly Show Presents – Thoughts on the uproar over California “street takeovers” AND the Nation's first “Stripper Union” on KFI AM 640 – Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

I have been attacked for years I've been through hell I have been sick Stockton police calls me five disorders Attacks on my family years of pain and suffering hate harassment death of my son Josiah Omar Smith five evil Stockton cops attack my other son James Smith the same night guns was pointed at me by CHP cop lumsargis nov212014. Officer Braga badge 2626 the motorcycle cop racial profile mean stop me Stockton Police was going all around the block trying to set me up for death I call the Stockton Police after hours number and I got a lieutenant to come to the scene on California Street and hazleton Street the lieutenant came to the scene where Braga Stockton police cops stop me he told me the sergeant or the lieutenant I don't even know but anyway he told me to bring my insurance card to court and I can go on another day brother the same cop that stopped me on California Street he stopped me on Kelly drive and charge me with a phone ticket when he stopped me on California and hazleton Street here in Stockton California near downtown he didn't show up for court on that ticket because the lieutenant came out that day on a different date and told me to bring my insurance card to court and I can go so motorcycle cop officer Braga badge 2626 was mad because they tried to kill me Stockton Police was riding all around the block that day when officer Braga badge 2626 stop me on California and hazleton Street they were trying to set me up I have a dead son named Josiah Omar Smith Stockton Police racial profiled him for countless of years my son was murdered November 19th 2015 Detective Reader told the state a lie that my son inflicted his own death now he got a job with the district attorney when he was working with Stockton Police as a homicide detective when he lied to the state controller of California how my son died he got a raise now he works for the district attorney of San Joaquin county it's a cover-up I'm treated like this because I'm a black color woman I'm a strong black colored woman I took all the evidence to FBI agent Chris McKinley I showed him video dog bite proof how five evil Stockton California police attack my son took him away to the hospital blood was dripping out his risk the handcuffs was so tight on his arm so sad he stayed in jail for 4 to 5 days Houston sensabaugh put a fake resistant arrest charge on my son I beat that charge in court the resisting arrest charge I beat it in court. Houston sensabaugh Stevens changed his last name to Stevens after he assaulted my son put fake resisting arrest charge on my son he was involved shortly after that incident in another homicide wow Stockton Police still let him work still let him interact in the community knowing he's a killer cop cuz they don't give a damn it's not their family they don't care Stockton police don't give a damn only thing those killer cops get is a three day paid leave and they go back in there cop car then kill somebody else it's a recycle pattern how they get down with the community we don't need that in America in the community of Stockton California in no community in the USA that's corruption I'm speaking truth facts

My name is Teresa Smith I have been traumatized attacks on me and my family police brutality excessive force by Stockton California police guns pointed at me harassment attack in the United States courthouse by a Sheriff Deputy put out the courthouse racial profiling me giving me tickets some of the police don't even come to court on the tickets several occasions I even was taken down a dark road by Armstrong California Highway Patrol officer here in Stockton California guns pointed at me guns pointed at every minor in my vehicle the night of November the 21st 2014 my disabled son was attacked by five Stockton California police they was not punished at all my civil liberties have been violated racial profiling me because I'm black causing me countless of torture suffering racial profiling my children harassment by Stockton California police David Wells running my black son down named Josiah Omar Smith going to school took his bike Stockton California police David Wells. I was attacked at the Stockton California courthouse by a Sheriff Deputy threatened me he was going to tase me in front of my daughter Jada Smith whose artistic my daughter Jada witness November the 21st 2014 five Stockton California police beat her disabled brother James Smith harassment doctors gets caught up by the California medical board back in 18 the doctor that supposed to be my him and his son is harassing me because they think that I called the medical board on them because they got caught the dad got caught write a prescription drugs out to your patient negligence to his patients the doctor got caught up back in 18 the county the city of Stockton California is Gov Corruption the police took off to serve and protect this is not the case they serve and kill and what I learned they are very racist Stockton California police why have a job when you're very prejudice against blacks I have been stopped so many times so many occasion just because I tell the truth on these evil police three government entities have attacked me I went to the Stockton grand jury road or 40 Page letter twice and told the grand jury here in Stockton California what was going on how I have been treated me and my black children and what I learned is the judge are very prejudice they always take stocking police side because they corrupt with Stockton Police I don't want no judge to hear no case of mine because it's not going to be a fair outcome they hold government corruption evil in this County at their courthouse the judge always try to take stock the police side all the time what about the right what about racial profiling black people what about attacking somebody's son with a disability IQ of a 40 the boy don't even know how to write his last name what about when they handcuff my son blood leaking all down his wrist in the hospital what about that what about when the police attack you again the sheriff department now and put my son in jail by the week ago swolled up his wrist what about that I have pictures his wrist was swollen they swollen up in my son said they was rough with him very rough I called the jail they had my son out there in the jail on French count at the sheriff department I went and got him I have the videos to prove my case what about stopping people for countless of years racial profiling me giving me tickets over 20 CHP cops Stockton Police the sheriff involved in these activities against me and my family no help they trying to set me up to kill me what about a cop don't stop me twice the same cop badge 2626 officer Braga badge 2626 he's a Stockton California police corrupt car he told me he was watching me this cop stop me twice in a row downtown on California Street and hazleton Street then he stopped me on Kelly drive here in Stockton California he didn't come to court on the first ticket when he stopped me downtown on California hazleton street he didn't come to court on that ticket All my civil liberties have been violated my family are victims

Grace Cathedral in San Francisco was declared "a house of prayer for all people" when its first cornerstone was laid down in 1910, and the worship center has carried that pledge for more than a century. Total SF hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight get a tour of the California Street landmark, then sit down with Very Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, the dean of Grace Cathedral. Young talks about the cathedral's history — including a visit from Martin Luther King Jr. after the Selma march — and its role in the 21st Century as a place for all to enter. They also talk about Carnivale, the cathedral's gala coming up on March 1. Total SF Book Club meets at 6 p.m. Thursday Feb. 24 in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library's main branch. Register for the live event or virtual at www.sfpl.org Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community" and cable car bell-ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Follow Total SF adventures at www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Curious about what progress has been made in Downtown Redding this year?  Steve Bade, Deputy City Manager for the City of Redding and the Downtown Liaison, gives an update on the current projects and when the community can expect to see them completed.Find out about Block 7 on California Street: the new parking garage, a pocket park, and more mixed-use development to be completed late in 2022.  Also, learn about plans to expand the Diestlehorst to Downtown bikeway further into the Downtown core with protected bikeways great for all cyclist skill levels. He also provides updates on several projects that aren't City developments, like the Shasta County Courthouse, K2's plans to fill the empty commercial space in Market Center, and some new market-rate housing units opening soon at the corner of South and East Street. Still lots of great things happening Downtown.  2022 is going to be another big construction year with several exciting openings. For more information on all the happenings in Downtown Redding, visit: cityofredding.org/downtown

One of the key action scenes in the new Marvel Studios film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” involves a city bus losing control on California Street in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood. Other scenes are filmed in the city's Richmond District -- not a typical locale for a major Hollywood production. The film, released Sept. 3, celebrates San Francisco and Asian Americans in other ways as well. We'll talk about San Francisco's role in the movie, which is already one of the year's biggest hits.

Downtown Discussion-  Nick Brown, Director of Riverfront Playhouse's production of Clue, joins Viva Downtown Program Coordinator, Blake Fisher in the latest episode of the Viva Downtown Downtown Discussion Podcast. In this episode Nick shares what to expect for the official inaugural production and his directorial debut at Riverfront Playhouses new location on 1950 California Street. Clue opens September  17, 2021 and runs through October 2, 2021.  https://www.riverfrontplayhouse.net/play/Clu1980376778 The Downtown Discussion is a podcast that focuses on the people who enhance Downtown Redding through social, cultural, and economic development.

LD continues to decode the American System by asking questions regarding Juneteenth and race. Why were no monies attached to legislation to address the problems that the Juneteenth Holiday brings to the consciousness of the American people.LISTEN to the podcast, see detailed show notes, pictures and videos.https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-juneteenth-nameand-holidayspreadhttps://www.juneteenth.comThe 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/how-1994-crime-bill-fed-mass-incarceration-crisisThe Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill,[1] the Clinton Crime Bill,[2] or the Biden Crime Law,[3] is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the United States and consisted of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons and $6.1 billion in funding for prevention programs, which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers.[4] Sponsored by U.S. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas,[5] the bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.[6] Then-Senator Joe Biden of Delaware drafted the Senate version of the legislation in cooperation with the National Association of Police Organizations, also incorporating the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with Senator Orrin Hatch.[7][8]Following the 101 California Street shooting, the 1993 Waco Siege, and other high-profile instances of violent crime, the Act expanded federal law in several ways. One of the most noted sections was the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Other parts of the Act provided for a greatly expanded federal death penalty, new classes of individuals banned from possessing firearms, and a variety of new crimes defined in statutes relating to hate crimes, sex crimes, and gang-related crime. The bill also required states to establish registries for sexual offenders by September 1997. 

As we've been reporting, 9 people were killed this morning in a shooting at a VTA light rail yard in San Jose, where police say an employee killed eight people before ending his own life. This is the worst mass shooting in the Bay Area since the 101 California Street massacre in San Francisco, 28 years ago. And for more, KCSB political Reporter Doug Sovern, and KCBS Radio Anchors Jeff Bell and Patti Reising spoke with California State Assemblyman Ash Kalra of San Jose; he represents much of San Jose and is the former Chair of the VTA Board. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last month, 45-year-old Lorenzo Perez was shot in broad daylight in Fresno while selling food from a bicycle cart. His death illustrated the many risks street vendors take to sell their goods. Advocates say street vendors, ubiquitous in California’s Latino neighborhoods, are seen as easy targets. Vendors continue to face decreased sales and increased risk of thefts and assaults as the pandemic stretches on. We talk about the risks street vendors face and how to best help.

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system. An icon of San Francisco, the cable car system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Of the 23 lines established between 1873 and 1890, only three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, the vast majority of their seven million annual passengers are tourists, and as a result, the wait to get on can often reach two hours or more. They are among the most significant tourist attractions in the city, along with Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman's Wharf. The cable cars are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cable cars are separate from San Francisco's heritage streetcars, which operate on Market Street and the Embarcadero, as well as from the more modern Muni Metro light rail system. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dwight-allen/message

What is up, all you skaters?! Welcome back to another FANTASTIC episode of Vent City, where we talk about bullshit skating, or something like that. You might be thinking, "Didn't I just hear this guy on the Bunt?" Your thoughts are correct, dear listener. But I address that right off the bat in the intro to the show, so you don't need that explained again here. We'll just say that you should listen to their ep with Cairo as well because there is a lot of stuff that doesn't overlap and hearing his retelling of the California Street gap shit is amazing. Also he forgot that Justin Brock three flipped it, which is pretty funny. Some context for today's dicsussion: Ryan Lay and Cairo Foster were teammates on enjoi very briefly, and their friendship has maintained since both have moved to other positions in the skate world. They are both also adults who have navigated the intersection of being a grown up and pro with varying degrees of grace, and they both skated to Built To Spill (which we talk about here because it's very fun to talk about being a grown up and music that is good). We also start with Popwar bracelet talk for some reason. This was a really fun interview and we hope you enjoi it. See what I did there? Also, here's a thing that only a few copy editors know: The brand enjoi prefers to be written all lowercase. And while we're at it, the company REAL goes the for the full caps. Who cares about that kind of stuff? I don't know. Maybe two of you. You don't have to send us a dm if you read all this. I know all seven of you are out there. But if you'd like to know more about brand standards of the skate world, feel free to email ventcitypod@gmail.com and I can tell you the other two I know that have unconventional capitalizations. Music by Ilana Bryne (@ilnan.bryne or naivetrax.bandcamp.com) Logo and Graphic Design by Michael Worful (@worful) Support the show: Patreon.com/ventcity I think I spelled that right this time. Thank you again. And plz don't comment how bad the singing is at the end. We know it sucks and we're gonna keep doing it.

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20).   At the age of eighteen, when I first lived on my own at U.C. Berkeley, I had all my classes in the same vast lecture hall and the room across the corridor from it. I have vivid memories of sitting on the benches by Strawberry Creek among the sycamore trees, outside Dwinelle Plaza, listening to a folk singer dressed all in white.   His name was Julian. He had long flowing hair and was only a little older than me. He often sang a song by Neil Young called “Sugar Mountain.” “Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain / With the barkers and the colored balloons, / You can’t be twenty on Sugar Mountain / Though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon, / You’re leaving there too soon.”[1]   “It’s so noisy at the fair / But all your friends are there / And the candy floss you had / And your mother and your dad. // Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain…”   At those moments, with such exquisite intensity, I missed my mom, my dad and my brother, and all those county fair moments of my other life. Something inside me resisted growing up and yet I knew I had to.   Many forms of Christianity emphasize a dramatic conversion experience above all else. In some churches you might even feel pressured to think that someone can’t be a Christian without a singular, defining mystical experience, without being “born again” in this way. The idea that a particularly moment might change everything certainly has a role in our tradition.   But I believe our form of faith focuses more on slow, steady progress over long periods of time. Coming to church, singing hymns, praying, trying to change how we treat people around us every day, working for a more just society – these actions ultimately shape our inner landscape so that we begin to respond to the world in a new way. Faith is this process of growing up. Luke describes it as, “knowing the ways of life” (Acts 2). John calls it having life in Jesus’ name (Jn. 20). Paul writes that, “all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Cor. 15:22).   Growing up can be painful. But Jesus promises that we can embrace change with equanimity, with a kind of deep, centered peace. This morning I want to study what it looks like to grow in faith. I’m using the Puritan sermon structure with a section each on the text, doctrine and application.   Text. Each reference to Jesus’ resurrection seems so unique and yet there are familiar patterns. For instance in the Gospels of John and Luke, Jesus’ closest friends have difficulty recognizing him. After the Roman Empire executes Jesus as an enemy, the disciples feel so disabled by fear that they will only gather behind locked doors.   Fear and surprise make Jesus invisible to his friends. They can only rejoice after seeing his wounds. He says, “peace be with you.” He breathes the Holy Spirit into them.[2] He teaches them that they can forgive the sins of others. But Thomas was not there and he feels shattered when his friends tell him that they, “have seen the Lord” (Jn. 20).   I don’t think of Thomas as primarily a doubter. He just wants to experience what the others saw. Perhaps he feels alone or guilty for abandoning Jesus or missing the meeting. But even in bitter despair Thomas keeps showing up to be with his friends. In English a double negative (like “ain’t no”) is bad grammar but in in Greek it adds emphasis. Thomas does this when he says that unless he sees Jesus’ wounds, “I will [absolutely] not believe.” A more literal translation of Jesus response would not use the word “doubt” but would be “do not be disbelieving but believe,” or, as my friend Herman Waetjen translates it, “do not be faith-less but faith-full.[3]”   Jesus is not against doubt. The theologian Paul Tillich (1886-1965) is right to point out that doubt is not opposed to belief but an element in it.[4] Jesus is talking about the kind of believing that involves a trusting relationship with God. Thomas feels full of such awe and joy that he uses the same expression that Romans used for Emperor Domitian (51-96 CE). He exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus says, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe.” And John writes that his book’s purpose is that through believing that, “Jesus is the Messiah… you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20).   My point is not that Thomas failed to grow in faith. His experience shows us that there is far more to faith than believing that a certain event, like the resurrection, happened in the past. There is indeed a believing that comes from seeing. But there is also a way of looking forward and seeing a transformed future because of what we believe. We see to believe. But we also believe in order to see. This is the advanced course, the deeper insight into reality that Jesus helps us to realize.   Doctrine. My next question has to do with doctrine. What is faith and why do we need it? The answer has to do with what Christians call sin. The twentieth century theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968) writes that each person has a unique moral code. Almost inevitably this collection of rules about how the world should be is biased in our favor and we go about trying to impose it on everyone else.   Barth also believes that most of the time we live by the delusion that we can help our self. Our ego craves security, power, the admiration of others. And so we rush, grasping for things, “striving and fighting.” But every success is hollow, everything we get turns out to be only a symbol for the real thing that we will never win on our own.[5] Christians have this idea of original sin. For me it means that there never was and never will be a golden age. There is something in us as human beings that drives us toward chaos. And yet through Jesus a kind of peace is possible. To friends who had just betrayed him this peace says that whatever separated us before is in the past. This peace is the inner freedom that belongs only to someone who seeks and accepts help from God. It is the peace that is more than absence of conflict. It is the peace we experience when we move beyond the question of what happened in the past and into an exploration of what faith in God might mean for the future.   That’s what the disciples did. Through believing in Jesus they went from expecting the enemy and hiding in fear, to being witnesses of God who changed the world. Faith isn’t just an idea of what is real, it is a way of living, of encountering each other with an openness to being helped by God. Religion is less like a form of knowledge and more like a longing for closeness with the origin of all things. Faith is simply wanting what God wants for the world.   Application. My last section concerns the danger of a certain kind of disbelieving. Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It happened on Wednesday of Easter week. You can imagine a few days earlier the fanfare at the largest, grandest church in the city on Easter Sunday. Little did they know that day, the hundreds of our predecessors at Grace Church, that they would never step foot in that magnificent church again.[6]   In our time we think of it as a devastating earthquake. But the shaking lasted for only a minute while the subsequent fire raged for three days and did far more damage. Three thousand people died, 28,000 structures were destroyed. Half of the city was homeless – over a hundred thousand people were forced to camp out. Five square miles were completely obliterated making it the greatest urban fire in history before the aerial warfare of World War II.   As a young priest I remember hearing stories from survivors. One woman told me that this time camping in Golden Gate Park included some of the happiest days of her long life. People rescued and cared for each other. Money or social station didn’t matter as much anymore. Everyone helped in whatever way they could.   In fact, the natural disaster was not nearly as catastrophic as the human disaster. Rebecca Solnit writes that Frederick Funston the commanding officer of the Presidio simply took over the city. His lack of faith in ordinary citizens meant that his men shot people for trying to help in the catastrophe. Out of fears of looting, that never really materialized, they kept away citizens who could have stopped the fires.[7] In short this was a terrible spiritual failure. The leaders cared more about protecting the property of the few than about what the community might accomplish together.   As a nation we are in the midst of another terrible crisis of faith. At anti-government protests in Lansing Michigan, Huntington Beach, California, Austin, Texas and elsewhere we are seeing people taking to the streets because they do not trust the scientists, civic leaders and government officials who are trying to protect them from COVID19.[8] In our case growing spiritually means becoming wiser about what we disbelieve. But it also means caring about what God loves and not squandering this opportunity to build a more equal and just society. We were made for this.[9]   I remember the last Sunday before the Cathedral had to close. It was the first time we knew that we shouldn’t touch each other but before we realized that we couldn’t gather together at all anymore. That day a visiting family sat in the first row. We looked each other in the eyes as we passed the peace. I realized that when I say “the peace of the Lord be with you,” it means, “I want what is good for you and I believe that God does too.” That is what faith means.   Every disaster is different. Unlike the earthquake and fire of 1906 the structures of inequality and the walls that separate us from each other are growing. We know that when life begins to return to normal, we will not return to the same jobs, schools and favorite places. They will have changed and we will have changed too.   At eighteen I understood that we all have to grow up, in our life and in our faith. But we do not decide what to believe on our own. God offers us help. Jesus cannot be prevented by any locked door from calling us to a deep centered peace that passes all understanding. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe. May the peace of the Lord be always with you. [1] “Now you say you’re leaving home / ‘Cause you want to be alone. / Ain’t it funny how you feel / When you’re finding out it’s real.” “Sugar Mountain,” Track 6, Side 2, Decade, Warner Bros., 28 October 1977, Neil Young. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/sugarmountain.html [2] This is the only time that the New Testament uses this word which describes how Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on to his disciples. [3] “Bring your finger here and see my hands and bring your hand and cast it into my side and do not keep on being faith-less but faith-full” (Jn. 20:27). Herman Waetjen, The Gospel of the Beloved Disciple: A Work in Two Editions (NY: T&T Clark, 2005) 423. [4] “Why not take the risk of historical uncertainty as well? The affirmation that Jesus is the Christ is an act of faith and consequently of daring courage. It is not an arbitrary leap into darkness but a decision in which elements of immediate participation and therefore certitude are mixed with elements of strangeness and therefor incertitude and doubt. But doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. Therefore, there is no faith without risk. The risk of faith is that it could affirm a wrong symbol of ultimate concern, a symbol which does not really express ultimacy…” Pau Tillich, Systematic Theology, Volume Two, Existence and Christ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1957) 116. [5] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV:1 The Doctrine of Reconciliation, tr. G.W. Bromiley (NY: T&T Clark, 2004) 446, 460. [6] Our former church stands on the site of the Ritz Carlton Hotel down the California Street hill from us. Photographs of its burnt-out tower became a symbol of terrible destruction. [7] Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster (NY: Viking, 2009) 35ff. [8] Pastors in the Central Valley love their story of being persecuted for their faith so deeply that they are suing the same government officials who are so successfully limiting the spread of coronavirus through social distancing rules. [9] Some years ago Israeli archaeologists made an extraordinary discovery. They found an untouched burial cave of a family who survived the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Among the pottery and household objects, they found two amulets, little silver scrolls that had been unopened for 2600 years. With great gentleness they unrolled them and found the oldest parchment of any sacred scripture now in existence. On the scrolls was written, “May God bless you and keep you. May God cause His countenance to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May God turn his countenance to you and grant you peace.” David J. Wolpe, Why Faith Matters (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2008) 194.

In 1993, a mass shooting in downtown San Francisco prompted a familiar debate about restricting access to guns and assault weapons. But something unusual happened. Two major gun control bills passed Congress and were signed into law. How did it happen? Guest: Harry Cheadle, senior editor at Vice. Read his piece on the 101 California Street shooting. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Ethan Brooks. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1993, a mass shooting in downtown San Francisco prompted a familiar debate about restricting access to guns and assault weapons. But something unusual happened. Two major gun control bills passed Congress and were signed into law. How did it happen? Guest: Harry Cheadle, senior editor at Vice. Read his piece on the 101 California Street shooting. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Ethan Brooks. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The company’s location on California & Battery street will be opening its doors for the first time at 7AM this morning, with quick bites, some grocery items and meal kits available for shoppers interested in buying things without going through a checkout line. 300 California Street, San Francisco, CA Store Hours: 7am – 9pm, Monday – Friday Square Footage: 2,300 square feet In addition to the Amazon Go store opening later this morning, the company has also announced that they’ll be opening a 1,750 square foot location in San Francisco at Post & Kearny street in December 98 Post Street, San Francisco, CA Amazon seems to be focusing its first SF openings in the Financial District here where there’s often a lot more foot traffic around lunchtime than in more startup office-heavy areas around SoMa where a lot of employees seem to stick around for catered lunches. The post Amazon Go is coming to the Bay Area appeared first on DAPULSE.

Following another week of mass shootings in the U.S., including the rampage at the UPS facility in San Francisco, there are renewed calls for solutions to America's gun violence epidemic. Jane McMillan's guest this week is Robyn Thomas, the Executive Director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence based in San Francisco and organized by the legal community following the 1993 mass shooting at 101 California Street.

Donna was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a novelist to keep high on your reading list" thanks to her previous novels (Extraordinary Means and California Street), and now she's about to release a gorgeous, gripping novel about a mother who faces increasing hostility and an uncertain future when her son Jack, a young boy with Asperger's, is accused of killing a classmate, There’s More Than One Way Home. Read more about her latest book here! “Intriguing and gut-wrenching…reminiscent of Liane Moriarty...A witty, modern voice delivers a captivating tale about a mysterious death that feels like a light read but soon submerges the reader deep in the throes of substance.” -Kirkus ABOUT DONNA'S BOOK Image may contain: 1 person, textThere’s More Than One Way Home: Anna Kagen seems to have it all: She’s young, beautiful, and married to a wealthy, prominent man. But within the walls of her San Francisco mansion, she spends her time dodging her husband’s barbs and hunting down potential friends for her son, Jack, a 10-year-old on the autistic spectrum. That old life suddenly seems idyllic when, on a school field trip, she makes the small error in judgment that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to another boy’s death. Suddenly Jack is a suspect, her husband’s career is in jeopardy, and Anna has to choose between loyalty to her son…and what may be her one chance at happiness. ABOUT DONNA Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the Novel-Writing Workshop. Her first novel, Extraordinary Means (William Morrow), was celebrated by Kirkus as a “a witty, clear-eyed debut,” and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “an extraordinarily lively, funny novel.” The Los Angeles Times called her second novel, California Street (Simon & Schuster) “inventive…thought-provoking and fun to read,” and The San Francisco Examiner called it “a lifeboat in a sea of featureless fiction.” Both of Donna’s novels were optioned for film. Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco. Donna published her first novel, Extraordinary Means, with William Morrow. Kirkus called it “a witty, clear-eyed debut,” and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “an extraordinarily lively, funny novel.” Her second novel, California Street, was published by Simon & Schuster. Digby Diehl wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “This is an inventive novel that is thought-provoking and fun to read, and Levin … is a novelist to keep high on your reading list.” The San Francisco Examiner called it “a lifeboat in a sea of featureless fiction.” Both of Donna’s novels were optioned for film. Donna has published two books about writing,Get that Novel Started and Get that Novel Written, both with Writer’s Digest Books. Get that Novel Written was translated into Italian and published by Dino Audino Editore. Donna taught fiction writing for two decades, most notably at the University of California Extension at Berkeley, where she led the Novel-Writing Workshop. Many of her students have gone on to publish, including Frank Baldwin (Balling the Jack and Jake and Mimi), Terry Gamble (Water Dancers and Good Family), and Mark Coggins, author of the August Riordan mysteries. She has also been a frequent guest at writers’ conferences, including the San Francisco Writers’ Conference and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. For many years she was a freelance book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and a columnist for the San Francisco Independent. Donna’s work is included in Boston University’s 20th Century Archives and in the California State Library’s collection of California novels. She lives in San Francisco. About the Publisher: Chickadee Prince Books is a young Brooklyn small publisher of acclaimed fiction and non-fiction. CPB publishes the Watt O’Hugh literary science fiction series, and in 2016 published the critical hit, Max’s Diamonds by Jay Greenfield. CPB will publish five new titles in Spring 2017. http://www.donnalevin.com/

Since 1970, countless generations of youngsters have donned tights and slippers for a weekly ballet class with San Francisco institution Miss Tilly. Teaching preschoolers about dance, however, is much more than pliés and tendus for Tilly Abbe, whose 350 students range from 3 to 7 years old -- it's about giving them skills that will last a lifetime. Spark visits this veteran teacher at her California Street studios, where she and her daughter Iliza Abbe offer a range of classes in dance, theater, hip hop and yoga, all designed to infuse a love of movement and the arts in their preschool-aged students.

This episode stars David S. Atkinson (Bones Buried in the Dirt). It was recorded sitting on sidewalk along California Street in Denver, CO in October 2013.

Pedro Sanchez is a soil scientist, Director of the Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program, and Director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sanchez was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.TranscriptSpeaker 1: Spectrum's next [inaudible] look at this picture and typology show on k a l s Berkeley, a biweekly 30 minute program bringing you interviews featuring bay area scientists [00:00:30] and technologists as well as a calendar of local events and news. Speaker 2: Good afternoon. My name is Brad Swift. This week on spectrum. Our guest is Professor Pedro Sanchez, a soil scientist who is director of the tropical agriculture and the rural environment program. Senior research scholar and the director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sanchez was director general of the World Agroforestry Center headquartered [00:01:00] in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991 to 2001 and served as co-chair of the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force. He is also professor Ameritus of Soil Science and forestry at North Carolina State University and was a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley. Dr Pedro Sanchez was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2012 in late April, 2012 Dr. Sanchez presented the [inaudible] any memorial lecture at the invitation of the UC Berkeley College of natural [00:01:30] resources. Prior to that lecture, Professor Sanchez talked with me about his life and work. Welcome to spectrum Pedro Sanchez. Thank you very much. Want to ask about how you initially got interested in soil science? Speaker 3: Oh boy. Well it goes way back. I'm from Cuba. My dad own a fairly small farm and I always liked to play with dirt. Still I'm [00:02:00] and getting paid for it. But during those days it was just playing. I always liked the, when I took a shower after being out all day to see, uh, to see the drain turn red with all the red mud. And uh, my dad, uh, wanted me to follow his steps, uh, with a farm fertilizer business he had in Cuba when he said he would send me to Cornell because uh, he had gone there and I said, fine. That was all fine with me. I started studying agronomy. [00:02:30] Ah, yeah, I'm majoring in soils. And then I changed hearing seminars from outside people, but that time telling us that Indian with 200 million people, what it's going to start on, this will be a global catastrophe. Oh. I said, well, this will be something I could dedicate my life with and I had been lucky enough to to say that I've done it. Yeah, I've dedicated my life to this. Speaker 2: How did your work, tropical agriculture Speaker 3: [00:03:00] and rural environment issues evolve? The hope was first my interest in tropical soils, not Doyle's in general, but tropical soils. Then the opportunities at Cornell offered me to go to the Philippines. I get my phd degree there. Then out of there I learned about the green revolution and I worked at my first international center, the international rice research and CCU, and from there arm became a assistant professor at North Carolina State [00:03:30] University, the first professor of tropical soil Sekai because they wanted to start a discipline on that. Send me to Peru and work on the green revolution of rice and brew and then afterwards into campus and start teaching tropical soils. You get research money and and right. The first edition of my book. Speaker 2: How do you describe and characterize world hunger and then rural poverty? How are they different? How are they similar overlap? Speaker 3: [00:04:00] They usually are the same person who suffers hunger. It's almost invariably poor. They're both rural and urban. All of the majority of the poor are, are indeed in rural areas of the world still Speaker 2: because it's only recently that the 50% of people now live in cities and that's mostly in the developed world. Speaker 3: No, and in Latin America is 75% [00:04:30] urban. Uh, a Shar is about the same sub Saharan Africa is the only large piece of land in the world where the majority of the people are still rural, about 70% but in the next 20 years they're probably going to be 50, 50 or less. Rural to urban migration continues. Cities get incredibly huge Speaker 2: hunger I guess then for you is caloric intake. Speaker 3: [00:05:00] Okay. Uh, there is a, there is a metric that it's approved by the United Nations on hunger and that is stumping Charles stunting, stunting being been short in height for your age and below a certain level you're considered stunted. That is a product of, of hunger and disease and on all sorts of things. What is the best metric we'd have for measuring hunger [00:05:30] is in children. So that's, that's the best metric. There are many other ones that can related to the amount of food you consume in terms of calories, broken vitamins and micronutrients and the amount of food you're able to, you're able to acquire by money, by buying food like most of us do, and then the utilization of food within your body. That also, that also has some same important variables. I should have. You have sites since [inaudible] and so on. [00:06:00] To me, however, hunger is the state of mind is the state of, not that I really been hungry for very long, I've been very lucky, but it's a state of powerlessness. When you're hungry, nothing else matters. You really have to satisfy that hunger and it's our survival instinct. For example, you cannot possibly think about the environment when you're hungry, so it's a mindset. That [00:06:30] brings us back to our most basic instance. Speaker 4: Today's guest on spectrum is Pedro Sanchez, director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute. You are listening to KALX Berkeley. Speaker 3: You've been involved in the United Nations Millennium Village project. Your key part of that, [00:07:00] and can you give us an overview of that project? It's an ongoing project, isn't it? Yeah, it is an ongoing project. I'm not bashful. It was my idea. And that is after finishing all of this recommendations on the UN Millennium Development Goals, my committee working with hunger and similar committees, working on health in sanitation and the environment and poverty and and so on. I was in India, I've seen some model, uh, or they call, uh, bio abilities [00:07:30] of my co-chair, professors forming Athan. And I said to myself, why don't we do this in Africa where the situation is much worse, but how can we help in impoverish villages achieve all the millennium development goals, not only over the whole thing. So I'm talking with my wife and at that time we had received some price money. We had quarter of a million dollars we could invest. Speaker 3: So we decided to let's go invest that money and try to do [00:08:00] it in a village in western Kenya. That will be both working. But when I went to see my director, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, he says, oh no, this is such a great idea. You're not going to do it with your money. We're going to raise lots of money and do it again. He did it within four or five months. We had about a hundred billion dollars in our coffers, so to speak, mostly from private philanthropists. And then we started conceiving. Then that brought me, the program says, okay, let's look for villages of about 5,000 people. [00:08:30] English, they're more than 20% malnourished kids under the age of five. Again, that famous metric on stunting that was, and the people that are making less than a dollar a day, very hard to quantify. So we started one in western Kenya [inaudible] and then as more funds came out, I know they winter in northern Ethiopia. Speaker 3: Oh, Colorado. And within a year and a half or so, we had 80 such feels clustered [00:09:00] and uh, around the 14 sites in 10 African countries, each of them representing a major agricultural zone or farming system where hunger is coming. In other words, who didn't have any, in South Africa, for example, the villages were selected by us. We always have to go basically to the head of states, a precedent or prime minister and ask for permission. But we would make sure that they wouldn't say, well, you have to do, listen, Mike Rich and some tribe didn't succeed. [00:09:30] Basically the way it started as a bunch of us from different disciplines, people working in health, people working infrastructure, water and sanitation and so on. We went to the village how to village meeting and there was some government people who represented different than we asking, well, do you want to become a millennium villages? Speaker 3: You're going to have to work very hard because we're not going to give you any money. We're going to do is help you out with things that you don't have in kind and get a lot of training on many things and [00:10:00] you're going to be asking a zillion questions with the questionnaires that we do. So that was the deal. And then the priorities were selected working with committees of the villagers and specialists from our side on the university site balance the knowledge that the villagers had gotten by themselves with scientific, scientifically grounded idea. So the villages basically said, well, we need [00:10:30] inputs for agriculture because the yields were very low. Said, what are you needs? Well, we use better seats, hybrids, seats, and so on and we need fertilizer. Well, we agreed with that. The other thing they asked right away, in addition to agricultural inputs to grow more food was a clinic. Speaker 3: And we said, okay, but let's get the plants from the Ministry of Health. So it's a proper government clinic. You guys build it, [00:11:00] you guys make the bricks and do all the things they know how to do and we'll provide you with a, with cement, with 10 roof, iron doors and the things I couldn't buy but not a, not a dollar or any shilling change hands. And they did that on their very problem. They did that for schools and even for warehouses later using the same principle that they do most of the work and we come in and provide the necessary things like cement [00:11:30] or whatever. And that's been the rule in pretty much in all the abilities with very, very few exceptions. Nice thing about that. They said they own it, they own it. They have a sense of ownership, they take care of it. And it's very different than if the government or some NGO or some foundation bill such things and gave him the keys to it. Are they in some way cooperatives? You're surely I ended up vigil in the villages, donates the land [00:12:00] for the clinic to be built then, I don't know the ownership, but in most cases basically the clinic is part of the Minister of health and the case of fertilizers and seed. No. Speaker 2: Well and then warehouses and things like that. Speaker 3: Yeah. Warehouses on all ladders. Uh, there, there's a, there, there it's usually built on a place that is donated by a member of the community walk that line. Speaker 2: So there's a certain collective spirit. Speaker 3: Oh, very much so. I mean every farmer farms his or her piece of land [00:12:30] like blank, they harvest, they sell it, share information, all of that share a lot of information. And right now that basic learning development goal has been achieved. They're getting more into different kinds of cooperatives and they band together to sell specific high value products such as milk or tomatoes or things like that. In most cases that are already registered as formal cooperatives. I mean means they can get a line of credit from the banks. They're [00:13:00] going through the process. Now we're going from a subsidize based economy, not only to getting into irregular financial arrangements wholesale. We on other institutions stuff work with banks to convince them to lend to these people. They say they have no collateral. It's true, uh, an institution, uh, Agora, which just starts for the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, broke ground by promising, not making a deal with it, with one of the banks and the credit guarantees they would refund [00:13:30] the bank 50% of whatever they are, who is, who? People not paying their loans out of hundreds of millions of dollars. And it has happened to have had to pay $4,000 the recovery rate of their loans from this people who have no collateral. It's the same as other people. And now banks now are beginning to look at agriculture, small holder agriculture, the bottom billion, so to speak, as SMH or source. Speaker 4: This is spectrum [00:14:00] KALX Berkeley. I'm talking with Professor Pedro Sanchez about hunger and agriculture in light of a global population of nine to 10 billion people by 2050 Speaker 2: and so does this project then in some ways answer the the critics of aid to developing nations that has failed for so long, decade after decade of just dumping money on countries as opposed to this kind of an integrated project [00:14:30] that you've, Speaker 3: well first, yeah, first let me say that this, this idea that all this money has been wasted is incorrect. I mean there are certainly a lot of wastage, but certainly not. When I started working, and it was like 40 years ago, and by that time countries like Mexico and Brazil and Korea were receiving aid and most of that America now there's no more aid and now they're our best customers in terms of and by [00:15:00] an American experts. So it has worked. The fact that that India is no longer starving, but India, so foot exporter has worked and not all the credit is, is to serve by the aid that donors select the United States gift, but also by their own resources and their own loan and work. But no aid has worked and it has worked then. Yeah, no, ideally and very subject to criticism. But by and large, I think eight in general in broad terms has work specifically [00:15:30] not Speaker 2: do you think there's an attainable rebalancing of agricultural incentives and markets in the developed world and in the developing world that would, uh, work to, you know, accommodate nine to 10 billion people in the world? Speaker 3: Well, first let me say that in either case, developed or undeveloped, there's no such a thing as a, I see ideal market or the perfect market, which my economist friends say, well, this, [00:16:00] oh, you mean you're subsidizing fertilizer? Well, that's sort of distorting the market for fertilizers. And I said, what markets one market are you talking about? It doesn't exist. Uh, I don't believe in perfect markets because I've never seen one. I'm not an economist, but mine are in economics, so knows a little bit about them and they're very distorted by, by subsidies. We subsidize very many rich farmers here who are really starting to the point of the ridiculous. The question [00:16:30] is, are we going to be able to feed 9 billion people by 2050 I would say probably yes. And a, the bigger actors there are going to be South America and Africa to be able to feed themselves. Yes. Unexplored food. Yes. The land resources are there. Of course all this has to do with politics. Nobody can predict what the politics over their specific country going to be. Right. Speaker 2: Like the molecular, like Molly, Speaker 3: Molly or reflect who's going to work [00:17:00] here. Yeah. So, uh, so I mean all this food is political presidents get reelected because it was a successful food programs in Africa, but uh, that it's perfectly feasible. It is. I don't know how much, what's your question about that? Speaker 2: And right now the percentage of land dedicated to agricultural activities, about 12%. Speaker 3: Yeah. And if you include pastures for a cow [00:17:30] production and so on, it's about 30% of the world's land area Speaker 2: and do you see that number? Being able to go up Speaker 3: little bit, maybe one or two percentage points, maybe one percentage points, but no more than that. But there will be an elements and South America on an that will be in opening new Lorenz lands that are not ecologically critical. Tropical rain forest. There's white lines or stuff like that that are [00:18:00] environmental protected. No Way. And there is additional land that can be used, but the main, the main effort is to increase the yields per acre of the land already been used and the best ways to do that in a going forward, sustainable way. What do you feel about that? You need improved plants and you need a balanced set of inputs and not too many and not too few. The genetically modified plants [00:18:30] are, in my opinion, fine. They've gotten a very bad rap, tumbled them or ecologically extremely sound like a bt corn and bt cotton. Speaker 3: They have a genes from a [inaudible] that when the insects bite and trying to suck the SAP or something, they get killed, stuck said to them so that only kill the bad bugs and lose all the other books who have no interested in getting involved with uh, with a corn crop fine as opposed to having insecticides that would kill [00:19:00] all insects. So, uh, there are a lot of good things in genetic modification anyway. We are all genetically modified organisms. We certainly are all of us and has been done by nature by, by random, but it's so much different if you do it in a, in a lab. Conceptually it's the same thing or very clear evidence study of the National Academy of Science August last year and Europe, two big studies, one in the UK and one in Switzerland and they all show [00:19:30] the same thing, that there is no harm done to the environment and to human health where the use of GMOs that have been released. Speaker 3: Then this is basically no different from the development of hybrid corn, which wasn't genetically modified in the sense of transporting one gene from one place to another one, but it was genetically modified by combining plants that would combine their own genes. So, um, we need plants that produce a lot, that have deep roots, that are told them to diseases [00:20:00] and insects and more tolerant to drought and floods because of climate change. You need better plants. And uh, without them we'd be nowhere. And the issue of inputs, agriculture is different from natural systems. Agriculture takes a tremendous amount of nutrients and energy and everything out of the system and it's not returned back and something has to be returned back. That's why we need to fertilizers, fertilizers, whether they're mineral or they're organic, we need to add additional [00:20:30] nutrients on. And there's no question about it. Speaker 3: The issue of organic versus mineral, the plant doesn't care the best way to do it. It's a combination of both, which is called conventional agriculture. Organic farming. If it produces higher premium price, go to it. But we know that the deals are lower and it requires more labor. So my view on all this is not to beat up matic you say you want to have a good balance, the, the time horizon [00:21:00] on the mineral fertilizers, phosphorus and potassium. Do you see that running out at some point in the future and not grading? Uh, the, uh, of course nitrogen is taken from the air and we live in an atmosphere of 78% nitrogen. So it's for all practical purposes, infant. But that's you comes from minds or I know there enormous research, unfortunately concentrated in two or three countries. Canada and Russia. Phosphorus is the one we worry [00:21:30] the most about. Speaker 3: But no, I've been about almost 50 years in this business and every five years or so here we're gonna run out of phosphorus in the next, uh, 50 to a hundred years. And then you keep [inaudible] in the past and best buy, there's more efficiency on the use on there, more that bus it's found. So I, I'm really not worried, not worried, frankly, not worried. I've heard that you're, you're taking a project with the gates foundation to [00:22:00] map all the soils of Africa is yes, yes. The digital soul map of Africa. Okay. And what's going to happen with the data? Um, we're doing it now. At first I saw map of Africa on a scale of a hundred by hundred meters. That's how about a Hector pixel. It will be Hector, two and a half acres of saw properties and that'll come out later in the year of the first approximation. It'll be, it'll be rough. Speaker 3: We're looking now for [00:22:30] continuation of the project for another four years to really do it better and uh, mainstream it into, into countries. And I forgot the other one too, but all the data will be accessible by the way, for the way, in a way that you can sort of like Google earth. You can pin 0.1 place and you can see a hundred by hundred meter pixels and it'll tell you how much sand has and all that. And then you can query [00:23:00] and it will give you a map of sand content. I know their map of organic matter or slow or whatever, whatever you want. Professor Sanchez, thanks very much for joining us on spectrum. You are very welcome. My pleasure. Glad to be back in Berkeley. Speaker 4: [00:23:30] Regular feature of spectrum is to highlight some of the science and technology events happening locally over the next two weeks. Here's Rick Kaneski and Lisa cabbage with the calendar on Wednesday, Speaker 5: August 29th at 6:00 PM the Commonwealth Club at five nine five market street in San Francisco. It's presenting a talk by the president of the Ocean Conservation Society, Madelina Beersy entitled Dolphin Confidential Confessions [00:24:00] of a field biologist. She'll talk about her experiences at sea from her earliest travels. You're a transformations into an advocate for conservation and dolphin protection. She takes us inside the world of a marine scientist and offer as a firsthand understanding of marine mammal behavior as well as the frustrations, delights, and creativity that makeup Dolphin research bears these fieldwork investigates Dolphin social behavior and intelligence. She shares an honest down to [00:24:30] earth analysis of what it means to be a marine biologist in the field today and the life among the dolphins and addresses the critical environmental and conservation problems they face. The lecture is $20 or $8 for Commonwealth club members or $7 for students with valid id. Visit Commonwealth club.org for more info, Speaker 6: find out what ideas are percolating in the mind of William Gibson, one of our greatest contemporary science fiction writers on Tuesday, September 4th [00:25:00] at 7:00 PM at the Jewish community center in San Francisco, 3,200 California Street, author of the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Neuro Mansur. Gibson described the internet before it existed and coined the term cyberspace. His first collection of nonfiction writings, distrust that particular flavor, offers provocative insights on everything from the future of technology to compulsive online watch collecting to drug trafficking and Singapore. Again, [00:25:30] that's Tuesday, September 4th at 7:00 PM for tickets and more information. Go to www dot JCC s f. Dot Org Speaker 5: September. His seminar about longterm thinking from the long now foundation will be on Wednesday the fifth at 7:30 PM Tim O'Reilly is discussing the birth of the global mind. The evolution of communication and intelligence. Speech allowed us to communicate and coordinate writing allowed that coordination to spend time and space, [00:26:00] but that's not all in one breakthrough computer application. After another, we see a new kind of manmade symbiosis. The Google autonomous vehicle turns out not to be just a triumph of artificial intelligence algorithms. The car is guided by the cloud memory of roads driven before by Human Google Street view drivers augmented by powerful and precise new sensors in the same way. Crowdsource data from sensor enabled humans is leading to smarter cities, breakthroughs in healthcare and new economies. [00:26:30] The future belongs not to artificial intelligence, but the collective intelligence. This event will take place at the cal theater and San Francisco is Fort Mason. It is $10 or is free for members Speaker 6: visit long now.org for tickets and more info. The September East Bay Science Cafe Welcomes John Duber, assistant professor in the Department of bioengineering at UC Berkeley. He will talk about using synthetic biology to build microbial factories producing biofuels. [00:27:00] One promising direction for the production of liquid transportation fuels is re-engineering the metabolism of microbes like Baker's yeast to convert sugar into a chemical with desirable bio fuel characteristics. Dubar roiled described work being done to produce biofuels using the rapidly emerging approaches of synthetic biology. John Dubar was a 2012 winner of the US Department of Energy's early career research award. East Bay Science cafe is Wednesday, [00:27:30] September 5th in the [inaudible] lounge adjacent to cafe Valparaiso at La Pena Cultural Center from seven to 9:00 PM location 31 oh five Shattuck avenue in Berkeley. Now, Lisa Katovich with two new stories, science news reports that two studies find that nanoscale pollutants can intercrop roots triggering a host of changes to plants growth in health. These tiny particles can stunt plant growth, boost the plants absorption [00:28:00] of pollutants, and increase the need for crop fertilizers. Speaker 6: The new data now for Warren of agriculturally associated human and environmental risks from the accelerating use of manufactured nanomaterials. According to Patricia Holden at UC Santa Barbara and her colleagues. Their report is published online August 20th in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, nanomaterials that get released in the exhaust from diesel fueled tractors can rain down onto crop fields. Those used in fabrics, [00:28:30] sunscreens and other products collect in the solid, separated out of sewage and wastewater. The new studies offer glimpse at the toxic effects. Such nanoparticles may pose to future crops. As exposures rise, the ability of soil and other legumes to fix nitrogen is one of the most important microbial processes in agriculture. So the ability of Nano Sirium to shut this process down was the most significant and most troubling new finding. The UC Berkeley Solar Car Club [00:29:00] team, cal soul placed forth in a field of 12 cars in the 2012 American solar challenge in July, the race was run in stages from Rochester, New York, ending in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Congratulations to the castle team. Speaker 1: The [inaudible] show is by Mozcon and David. This album, [00:29:30] folk and acoustic made available [inaudible] comments, license 3.0 thank you. Listen to spectrum [inaudible] spectrum [inaudible] hi John. [inaudible]. [inaudible]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pedro Sanchez is a soil scientist, Director of the Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program, and Director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sanchez was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.TranscriptSpeaker 1: Spectrum's next [inaudible] look at this picture and typology show on k a l s Berkeley, a biweekly 30 minute program bringing you interviews featuring bay area scientists [00:00:30] and technologists as well as a calendar of local events and news. Speaker 2: Good afternoon. My name is Brad Swift. This week on spectrum. Our guest is Professor Pedro Sanchez, a soil scientist who is director of the tropical agriculture and the rural environment program. Senior research scholar and the director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sanchez was director general of the World Agroforestry Center headquartered [00:01:00] in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991 to 2001 and served as co-chair of the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force. He is also professor Ameritus of Soil Science and forestry at North Carolina State University and was a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley. Dr Pedro Sanchez was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2012 in late April, 2012 Dr. Sanchez presented the [inaudible] any memorial lecture at the invitation of the UC Berkeley College of natural [00:01:30] resources. Prior to that lecture, Professor Sanchez talked with me about his life and work. Welcome to spectrum Pedro Sanchez. Thank you very much. Want to ask about how you initially got interested in soil science? Speaker 3: Oh boy. Well it goes way back. I'm from Cuba. My dad own a fairly small farm and I always liked to play with dirt. Still I'm [00:02:00] and getting paid for it. But during those days it was just playing. I always liked the, when I took a shower after being out all day to see, uh, to see the drain turn red with all the red mud. And uh, my dad, uh, wanted me to follow his steps, uh, with a farm fertilizer business he had in Cuba when he said he would send me to Cornell because uh, he had gone there and I said, fine. That was all fine with me. I started studying agronomy. [00:02:30] Ah, yeah, I'm majoring in soils. And then I changed hearing seminars from outside people, but that time telling us that Indian with 200 million people, what it's going to start on, this will be a global catastrophe. Oh. I said, well, this will be something I could dedicate my life with and I had been lucky enough to to say that I've done it. Yeah, I've dedicated my life to this. Speaker 2: How did your work, tropical agriculture Speaker 3: [00:03:00] and rural environment issues evolve? The hope was first my interest in tropical soils, not Doyle's in general, but tropical soils. Then the opportunities at Cornell offered me to go to the Philippines. I get my phd degree there. Then out of there I learned about the green revolution and I worked at my first international center, the international rice research and CCU, and from there arm became a assistant professor at North Carolina State [00:03:30] University, the first professor of tropical soil Sekai because they wanted to start a discipline on that. Send me to Peru and work on the green revolution of rice and brew and then afterwards into campus and start teaching tropical soils. You get research money and and right. The first edition of my book. Speaker 2: How do you describe and characterize world hunger and then rural poverty? How are they different? How are they similar overlap? Speaker 3: [00:04:00] They usually are the same person who suffers hunger. It's almost invariably poor. They're both rural and urban. All of the majority of the poor are, are indeed in rural areas of the world still Speaker 2: because it's only recently that the 50% of people now live in cities and that's mostly in the developed world. Speaker 3: No, and in Latin America is 75% [00:04:30] urban. Uh, a Shar is about the same sub Saharan Africa is the only large piece of land in the world where the majority of the people are still rural, about 70% but in the next 20 years they're probably going to be 50, 50 or less. Rural to urban migration continues. Cities get incredibly huge Speaker 2: hunger I guess then for you is caloric intake. Speaker 3: [00:05:00] Okay. Uh, there is a, there is a metric that it's approved by the United Nations on hunger and that is stumping Charles stunting, stunting being been short in height for your age and below a certain level you're considered stunted. That is a product of, of hunger and disease and on all sorts of things. What is the best metric we'd have for measuring hunger [00:05:30] is in children. So that's, that's the best metric. There are many other ones that can related to the amount of food you consume in terms of calories, broken vitamins and micronutrients and the amount of food you're able to, you're able to acquire by money, by buying food like most of us do, and then the utilization of food within your body. That also, that also has some same important variables. I should have. You have sites since [inaudible] and so on. [00:06:00] To me, however, hunger is the state of mind is the state of, not that I really been hungry for very long, I've been very lucky, but it's a state of powerlessness. When you're hungry, nothing else matters. You really have to satisfy that hunger and it's our survival instinct. For example, you cannot possibly think about the environment when you're hungry, so it's a mindset. That [00:06:30] brings us back to our most basic instance. Speaker 4: Today's guest on spectrum is Pedro Sanchez, director of the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute. You are listening to KALX Berkeley. Speaker 3: You've been involved in the United Nations Millennium Village project. Your key part of that, [00:07:00] and can you give us an overview of that project? It's an ongoing project, isn't it? Yeah, it is an ongoing project. I'm not bashful. It was my idea. And that is after finishing all of this recommendations on the UN Millennium Development Goals, my committee working with hunger and similar committees, working on health in sanitation and the environment and poverty and and so on. I was in India, I've seen some model, uh, or they call, uh, bio abilities [00:07:30] of my co-chair, professors forming Athan. And I said to myself, why don't we do this in Africa where the situation is much worse, but how can we help in impoverish villages achieve all the millennium development goals, not only over the whole thing. So I'm talking with my wife and at that time we had received some price money. We had quarter of a million dollars we could invest. Speaker 3: So we decided to let's go invest that money and try to do [00:08:00] it in a village in western Kenya. That will be both working. But when I went to see my director, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, he says, oh no, this is such a great idea. You're not going to do it with your money. We're going to raise lots of money and do it again. He did it within four or five months. We had about a hundred billion dollars in our coffers, so to speak, mostly from private philanthropists. And then we started conceiving. Then that brought me, the program says, okay, let's look for villages of about 5,000 people. [00:08:30] English, they're more than 20% malnourished kids under the age of five. Again, that famous metric on stunting that was, and the people that are making less than a dollar a day, very hard to quantify. So we started one in western Kenya [inaudible] and then as more funds came out, I know they winter in northern Ethiopia. Speaker 3: Oh, Colorado. And within a year and a half or so, we had 80 such feels clustered [00:09:00] and uh, around the 14 sites in 10 African countries, each of them representing a major agricultural zone or farming system where hunger is coming. In other words, who didn't have any, in South Africa, for example, the villages were selected by us. We always have to go basically to the head of states, a precedent or prime minister and ask for permission. But we would make sure that they wouldn't say, well, you have to do, listen, Mike Rich and some tribe didn't succeed. [00:09:30] Basically the way it started as a bunch of us from different disciplines, people working in health, people working infrastructure, water and sanitation and so on. We went to the village how to village meeting and there was some government people who represented different than we asking, well, do you want to become a millennium villages? Speaker 3: You're going to have to work very hard because we're not going to give you any money. We're going to do is help you out with things that you don't have in kind and get a lot of training on many things and [00:10:00] you're going to be asking a zillion questions with the questionnaires that we do. So that was the deal. And then the priorities were selected working with committees of the villagers and specialists from our side on the university site balance the knowledge that the villagers had gotten by themselves with scientific, scientifically grounded idea. So the villages basically said, well, we need [00:10:30] inputs for agriculture because the yields were very low. Said, what are you needs? Well, we use better seats, hybrids, seats, and so on and we need fertilizer. Well, we agreed with that. The other thing they asked right away, in addition to agricultural inputs to grow more food was a clinic. Speaker 3: And we said, okay, but let's get the plants from the Ministry of Health. So it's a proper government clinic. You guys build it, [00:11:00] you guys make the bricks and do all the things they know how to do and we'll provide you with a, with cement, with 10 roof, iron doors and the things I couldn't buy but not a, not a dollar or any shilling change hands. And they did that on their very problem. They did that for schools and even for warehouses later using the same principle that they do most of the work and we come in and provide the necessary things like cement [00:11:30] or whatever. And that's been the rule in pretty much in all the abilities with very, very few exceptions. Nice thing about that. They said they own it, they own it. They have a sense of ownership, they take care of it. And it's very different than if the government or some NGO or some foundation bill such things and gave him the keys to it. Are they in some way cooperatives? You're surely I ended up vigil in the villages, donates the land [00:12:00] for the clinic to be built then, I don't know the ownership, but in most cases basically the clinic is part of the Minister of health and the case of fertilizers and seed. No. Speaker 2: Well and then warehouses and things like that. Speaker 3: Yeah. Warehouses on all ladders. Uh, there, there's a, there, there it's usually built on a place that is donated by a member of the community walk that line. Speaker 2: So there's a certain collective spirit. Speaker 3: Oh, very much so. I mean every farmer farms his or her piece of land [00:12:30] like blank, they harvest, they sell it, share information, all of that share a lot of information. And right now that basic learning development goal has been achieved. They're getting more into different kinds of cooperatives and they band together to sell specific high value products such as milk or tomatoes or things like that. In most cases that are already registered as formal cooperatives. I mean means they can get a line of credit from the banks. They're [00:13:00] going through the process. Now we're going from a subsidize based economy, not only to getting into irregular financial arrangements wholesale. We on other institutions stuff work with banks to convince them to lend to these people. They say they have no collateral. It's true, uh, an institution, uh, Agora, which just starts for the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, broke ground by promising, not making a deal with it, with one of the banks and the credit guarantees they would refund [00:13:30] the bank 50% of whatever they are, who is, who? People not paying their loans out of hundreds of millions of dollars. And it has happened to have had to pay $4,000 the recovery rate of their loans from this people who have no collateral. It's the same as other people. And now banks now are beginning to look at agriculture, small holder agriculture, the bottom billion, so to speak, as SMH or source. Speaker 4: This is spectrum [00:14:00] KALX Berkeley. I'm talking with Professor Pedro Sanchez about hunger and agriculture in light of a global population of nine to 10 billion people by 2050 Speaker 2: and so does this project then in some ways answer the the critics of aid to developing nations that has failed for so long, decade after decade of just dumping money on countries as opposed to this kind of an integrated project [00:14:30] that you've, Speaker 3: well first, yeah, first let me say that this, this idea that all this money has been wasted is incorrect. I mean there are certainly a lot of wastage, but certainly not. When I started working, and it was like 40 years ago, and by that time countries like Mexico and Brazil and Korea were receiving aid and most of that America now there's no more aid and now they're our best customers in terms of and by [00:15:00] an American experts. So it has worked. The fact that that India is no longer starving, but India, so foot exporter has worked and not all the credit is, is to serve by the aid that donors select the United States gift, but also by their own resources and their own loan and work. But no aid has worked and it has worked then. Yeah, no, ideally and very subject to criticism. But by and large, I think eight in general in broad terms has work specifically [00:15:30] not Speaker 2: do you think there's an attainable rebalancing of agricultural incentives and markets in the developed world and in the developing world that would, uh, work to, you know, accommodate nine to 10 billion people in the world? Speaker 3: Well, first let me say that in either case, developed or undeveloped, there's no such a thing as a, I see ideal market or the perfect market, which my economist friends say, well, this, [00:16:00] oh, you mean you're subsidizing fertilizer? Well, that's sort of distorting the market for fertilizers. And I said, what markets one market are you talking about? It doesn't exist. Uh, I don't believe in perfect markets because I've never seen one. I'm not an economist, but mine are in economics, so knows a little bit about them and they're very distorted by, by subsidies. We subsidize very many rich farmers here who are really starting to the point of the ridiculous. The question [00:16:30] is, are we going to be able to feed 9 billion people by 2050 I would say probably yes. And a, the bigger actors there are going to be South America and Africa to be able to feed themselves. Yes. Unexplored food. Yes. The land resources are there. Of course all this has to do with politics. Nobody can predict what the politics over their specific country going to be. Right. Speaker 2: Like the molecular, like Molly, Speaker 3: Molly or reflect who's going to work [00:17:00] here. Yeah. So, uh, so I mean all this food is political presidents get reelected because it was a successful food programs in Africa, but uh, that it's perfectly feasible. It is. I don't know how much, what's your question about that? Speaker 2: And right now the percentage of land dedicated to agricultural activities, about 12%. Speaker 3: Yeah. And if you include pastures for a cow [00:17:30] production and so on, it's about 30% of the world's land area Speaker 2: and do you see that number? Being able to go up Speaker 3: little bit, maybe one or two percentage points, maybe one percentage points, but no more than that. But there will be an elements and South America on an that will be in opening new Lorenz lands that are not ecologically critical. Tropical rain forest. There's white lines or stuff like that that are [00:18:00] environmental protected. No Way. And there is additional land that can be used, but the main, the main effort is to increase the yields per acre of the land already been used and the best ways to do that in a going forward, sustainable way. What do you feel about that? You need improved plants and you need a balanced set of inputs and not too many and not too few. The genetically modified plants [00:18:30] are, in my opinion, fine. They've gotten a very bad rap, tumbled them or ecologically extremely sound like a bt corn and bt cotton. Speaker 3: They have a genes from a [inaudible] that when the insects bite and trying to suck the SAP or something, they get killed, stuck said to them so that only kill the bad bugs and lose all the other books who have no interested in getting involved with uh, with a corn crop fine as opposed to having insecticides that would kill [00:19:00] all insects. So, uh, there are a lot of good things in genetic modification anyway. We are all genetically modified organisms. We certainly are all of us and has been done by nature by, by random, but it's so much different if you do it in a, in a lab. Conceptually it's the same thing or very clear evidence study of the National Academy of Science August last year and Europe, two big studies, one in the UK and one in Switzerland and they all show [00:19:30] the same thing, that there is no harm done to the environment and to human health where the use of GMOs that have been released. Speaker 3: Then this is basically no different from the development of hybrid corn, which wasn't genetically modified in the sense of transporting one gene from one place to another one, but it was genetically modified by combining plants that would combine their own genes. So, um, we need plants that produce a lot, that have deep roots, that are told them to diseases [00:20:00] and insects and more tolerant to drought and floods because of climate change. You need better plants. And uh, without them we'd be nowhere. And the issue of inputs, agriculture is different from natural systems. Agriculture takes a tremendous amount of nutrients and energy and everything out of the system and it's not returned back and something has to be returned back. That's why we need to fertilizers, fertilizers, whether they're mineral or they're organic, we need to add additional [00:20:30] nutrients on. And there's no question about it. Speaker 3: The issue of organic versus mineral, the plant doesn't care the best way to do it. It's a combination of both, which is called conventional agriculture. Organic farming. If it produces higher premium price, go to it. But we know that the deals are lower and it requires more labor. So my view on all this is not to beat up matic you say you want to have a good balance, the, the time horizon [00:21:00] on the mineral fertilizers, phosphorus and potassium. Do you see that running out at some point in the future and not grading? Uh, the, uh, of course nitrogen is taken from the air and we live in an atmosphere of 78% nitrogen. So it's for all practical purposes, infant. But that's you comes from minds or I know there enormous research, unfortunately concentrated in two or three countries. Canada and Russia. Phosphorus is the one we worry [00:21:30] the most about. Speaker 3: But no, I've been about almost 50 years in this business and every five years or so here we're gonna run out of phosphorus in the next, uh, 50 to a hundred years. And then you keep [inaudible] in the past and best buy, there's more efficiency on the use on there, more that bus it's found. So I, I'm really not worried, not worried, frankly, not worried. I've heard that you're, you're taking a project with the gates foundation to [00:22:00] map all the soils of Africa is yes, yes. The digital soul map of Africa. Okay. And what's going to happen with the data? Um, we're doing it now. At first I saw map of Africa on a scale of a hundred by hundred meters. That's how about a Hector pixel. It will be Hector, two and a half acres of saw properties and that'll come out later in the year of the first approximation. It'll be, it'll be rough. Speaker 3: We're looking now for [00:22:30] continuation of the project for another four years to really do it better and uh, mainstream it into, into countries. And I forgot the other one too, but all the data will be accessible by the way, for the way, in a way that you can sort of like Google earth. You can pin 0.1 place and you can see a hundred by hundred meter pixels and it'll tell you how much sand has and all that. And then you can query [00:23:00] and it will give you a map of sand content. I know their map of organic matter or slow or whatever, whatever you want. Professor Sanchez, thanks very much for joining us on spectrum. You are very welcome. My pleasure. Glad to be back in Berkeley. Speaker 4: [00:23:30] Regular feature of spectrum is to highlight some of the science and technology events happening locally over the next two weeks. Here's Rick Kaneski and Lisa cabbage with the calendar on Wednesday, Speaker 5: August 29th at 6:00 PM the Commonwealth Club at five nine five market street in San Francisco. It's presenting a talk by the president of the Ocean Conservation Society, Madelina Beersy entitled Dolphin Confidential Confessions [00:24:00] of a field biologist. She'll talk about her experiences at sea from her earliest travels. You're a transformations into an advocate for conservation and dolphin protection. She takes us inside the world of a marine scientist and offer as a firsthand understanding of marine mammal behavior as well as the frustrations, delights, and creativity that makeup Dolphin research bears these fieldwork investigates Dolphin social behavior and intelligence. She shares an honest down to [00:24:30] earth analysis of what it means to be a marine biologist in the field today and the life among the dolphins and addresses the critical environmental and conservation problems they face. The lecture is $20 or $8 for Commonwealth club members or $7 for students with valid id. Visit Commonwealth club.org for more info, Speaker 6: find out what ideas are percolating in the mind of William Gibson, one of our greatest contemporary science fiction writers on Tuesday, September 4th [00:25:00] at 7:00 PM at the Jewish community center in San Francisco, 3,200 California Street, author of the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Neuro Mansur. Gibson described the internet before it existed and coined the term cyberspace. His first collection of nonfiction writings, distrust that particular flavor, offers provocative insights on everything from the future of technology to compulsive online watch collecting to drug trafficking and Singapore. Again, [00:25:30] that's Tuesday, September 4th at 7:00 PM for tickets and more information. Go to www dot JCC s f. Dot Org Speaker 5: September. His seminar about longterm thinking from the long now foundation will be on Wednesday the fifth at 7:30 PM Tim O'Reilly is discussing the birth of the global mind. The evolution of communication and intelligence. Speech allowed us to communicate and coordinate writing allowed that coordination to spend time and space, [00:26:00] but that's not all in one breakthrough computer application. After another, we see a new kind of manmade symbiosis. The Google autonomous vehicle turns out not to be just a triumph of artificial intelligence algorithms. The car is guided by the cloud memory of roads driven before by Human Google Street view drivers augmented by powerful and precise new sensors in the same way. Crowdsource data from sensor enabled humans is leading to smarter cities, breakthroughs in healthcare and new economies. [00:26:30] The future belongs not to artificial intelligence, but the collective intelligence. This event will take place at the cal theater and San Francisco is Fort Mason. It is $10 or is free for members Speaker 6: visit long now.org for tickets and more info. The September East Bay Science Cafe Welcomes John Duber, assistant professor in the Department of bioengineering at UC Berkeley. He will talk about using synthetic biology to build microbial factories producing biofuels. [00:27:00] One promising direction for the production of liquid transportation fuels is re-engineering the metabolism of microbes like Baker's yeast to convert sugar into a chemical with desirable bio fuel characteristics. Dubar roiled described work being done to produce biofuels using the rapidly emerging approaches of synthetic biology. John Dubar was a 2012 winner of the US Department of Energy's early career research award. East Bay Science cafe is Wednesday, [00:27:30] September 5th in the [inaudible] lounge adjacent to cafe Valparaiso at La Pena Cultural Center from seven to 9:00 PM location 31 oh five Shattuck avenue in Berkeley. Now, Lisa Katovich with two new stories, science news reports that two studies find that nanoscale pollutants can intercrop roots triggering a host of changes to plants growth in health. These tiny particles can stunt plant growth, boost the plants absorption [00:28:00] of pollutants, and increase the need for crop fertilizers. Speaker 6: The new data now for Warren of agriculturally associated human and environmental risks from the accelerating use of manufactured nanomaterials. According to Patricia Holden at UC Santa Barbara and her colleagues. Their report is published online August 20th in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, nanomaterials that get released in the exhaust from diesel fueled tractors can rain down onto crop fields. Those used in fabrics, [00:28:30] sunscreens and other products collect in the solid, separated out of sewage and wastewater. The new studies offer glimpse at the toxic effects. Such nanoparticles may pose to future crops. As exposures rise, the ability of soil and other legumes to fix nitrogen is one of the most important microbial processes in agriculture. So the ability of Nano Sirium to shut this process down was the most significant and most troubling new finding. The UC Berkeley Solar Car Club [00:29:00] team, cal soul placed forth in a field of 12 cars in the 2012 American solar challenge in July, the race was run in stages from Rochester, New York, ending in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Congratulations to the castle team. Speaker 1: The [inaudible] show is by Mozcon and David. This album, [00:29:30] folk and acoustic made available [inaudible] comments, license 3.0 thank you. Listen to spectrum [inaudible] spectrum [inaudible] hi John. [inaudible]. [inaudible]. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since 1970, countless generations of youngsters have donned tights and slippers for a weekly ballet class with San Francisco institution Miss Tilly. Spark visits this veteran teacher at her California Street studios, where she and her daughter Iliza Abbe offer a range of classes in dance, theater, hip-hop and yoga, for preschool-aged students. Original air date: May 2005.