S1: Welcome to KPBS roundtable , I'm Andrew Bracken. College campuses have become a focal point for protests against the war in Gaza , and student journalists have been vital in telling the story of what's happening.
S2: And I think that a lot of people in our generation feel really passionate about this , while also wanting to report on it effectively. So being so involved in the community , while also trying to be an effective reporter is an interesting balance to find.
S1: The UC San Diego community continues to react to the clearing of a student encampment on Monday. Thousands of students walked out Wednesday to protest the ongoing war in Gaza and the university's response to protests. We hear from student journalists from UCSD about what it's been like to cover the week's events , plus a closer look at some recent reporting covering the Imperial Valley from KPBS. That's just ahead on KPBS roundtable. On Wednesday , thousands of UC San Diego students marched to protest the ongoing war in Gaza and the university's response to the protests on campus. You know.
S3: We know it's like you're on a break.
S1: Remember me in the week began with a police raid that cleared the Gaza Solidarity encampment from campus early Monday morning. More protests have followed since , as have calls from students and some faculty for the resignation of UC SDS Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. We wanted to discuss more of the week's events on campus at UC San Diego , and here to help us do that are Raymond Tran. He's editor in chief at UC San Diego's student newspaper , The Guardian. He's also a senior at UC San Diego. Raymond. Welcome to you. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Thank you for having me.
S1: And Vivian Decker is also here. She is the features editor at the Guardian and is a junior at the university. Vivian , welcome to roundtable.
S2: Thank you for having us. We're excited.
S1: Vivian , I'll start with you.
S2: So about five days prior to Monday , on Wednesday , UCSD students organized by students for Justice in Palestine or SJP and some other related students decided to set up a Gaza solidarity encampment , much like those that have been popping up throughout the US over the last few weeks. Um , on Monday , our our school , our chancellor decided it was time to clear the encampment. So from our understanding , at around 5:40 a.m. , um , police arrived at the encampment and cleared the entire thing out. So none of us were there. But from our understanding , like I said , the police gathered and asked protesters to leave. Those who were not willing to leave were , um , individually arrested. Um , we arrived on the scene as soon as we could , but by the time we got there , the entire encampment was cleared. There were no students left in the area , and there was already a group of protesters , um , trying to show the police their , you know , distaste for what had happened.
S1: Raymond , I want to get your thoughts on on what happened on Monday morning. Can you tell us , you know , how did you first find out about it and what you saw when you arrived on scene there ? Yeah.
S4: So leaving Sunday night ? Um , you know , we had already been covering the encampment for , what , like five days at that point ? Um , so I was like , okay , Monday morning , we're going to start back at it. Um , we had been doing shifts , so I had started set my alarm for like 9 a.m. to get there , um , sort of early. But then my body had woken me up at like 8 a.m. , um , and thankfully it did , because I looked over to my phone to find 15 million missed calls and messages , um , telling me about what happened. Um , my initial reaction was like my heart dropped. I was like , you know , we always knew that the police raid was a possibility and it was a high possibility. And so I kind of like , was angry at myself because I have like , I should have seen it coming. I should have , like , been there on the ground to report on it. But yeah , it was a really chaotic morning because we also had our weekly print issues supposed to be delivered Monday morning , and the printer has called me saying that they were unable to get to campus. So I had to send them my address and load all those papers into my car. And then I headed to campus , where I met , um , Vivian and our other reporters and photographers there.
S1: So you mentioned this idea that when you heard about Monday's events that you thought in the back of your mind that it I think you said you thought it might be a possibility. Take us through , you know , from when the encampment began Wednesday through that weekend , what gave you that sense that , you know , what we saw Monday might come to pass ? Yeah.
S4: So it mainly derived from the other stories I've been hearing from other college campuses across the country about their police raiding the , their encampments. And then so since UCSD had an encampment , like , it was always a possibility that like , they could just it could it could follow suit and then also throughout the week , like , I would like to be perfectly clear that , um , Viv and I were there for maybe 8 or 10 hours a day , just like observing the encampment , taking as many notes as we can. And there was nothing violent or , you know , there was nothing violent about the encampment itself. Like they were doing prayers. They were , you know , doing speeches. They were , you know , just collecting. And it was like a really beautiful thing to witness. Um , but what led me to kind of have this feeling was the administrative response to the encampment. I know I want to say that it was. Friday or Saturday that the fire marshals were escorted by police into the entrance of the encampment , and they said that they needed to do like security checks and like fired hazard checks. And , you know , it was read as a it was read as an attempt to dismantle the encampment and like to get in there and to , like , claim that it was unsafe. So , like , they would have a reason to dismantle the encampment and especially with the cancellation of Sun God. That was something that I really considered when I was thinking about like what that meant for the future of the encampment and our coverage. Um , you know , the administration said that it was due to safety concerns and like , resources in terms of security. And throughout the entire week , it just felt like the administration was kind of setting up the grounds to justify the invasion of the encampment and the arrests that were made.
S1: And , you know , on that point on the Sun God Festival , can you for those that may not know , can you explain what that is and sort of what it means to the UC San Diego community and students there ? Because I understand it's a it's a pretty big event. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. So it's our annual like music festival that we put on at the end of like Spring Quarter. Um , it's hosted by the Associated Students concerts and events , and it uses our like basically student fees to like , pay for the stage , the artists , the vendors , everything. Um , and then so like this year , people were really excited about the lineup and , um , yeah , in past years , people haven't really been that excited about the lineup. But this year in particular , I feel like they secured a really good lineup that , like , pleased a lot of students. And so it just like is something that everyone is excited about yearly. And I think this is like our third time ever canceling Sun God. They've only done this like a number of times in its long history.
S1: And Vivian. On Monday , police arrested 64 people after raiding the encampment. 40 of those were students.
S2: Um , but since the , um , arrests on Monday , they were all released , from my understanding on the same day , at least some of them were confirmed to be released , and now they're awaiting , like suspension trials. I don't know what the official legal action taken against them will look like , but on the school's part , um , we think that there will be some disciplinary consequences based on those upcoming suspension trials.
S1: And Raymond , earlier we talked about , you know , how the student groups and some faculty are calling for UC San Diego's , uh , Chancellor Khosla to resign.
S4: And so that has been a demand since the very beginning , and it has continued to be a demand up to now. Um , other things that I've been hearing is amnesty for all involved in the protest. Yeah. So another demand that a lot of protesters are making , and it was actually stated at the encampment , is to also boycott companies that also have ties and support Israel , such as Starbucks and Subway. Those are companies that we have on campus.
S1: And the university has contracts with these companies.
S4: And the demand is to remove these companies from our campus and , you know , essentially replace them with companies that do not support Israel.
S1:
S2: Not from my understanding. It's been obviously , that's more of a recent development and there have been multiple , I think quite a few 30 plus student organizations , um , groups of faculty have called for his resignation.
S1: So I want to turn a little bit more toward your guys , um , approach in covering this. Vivian , I think earlier you. Mentioned. You know , the Guardian is sort of overtaking your life like it's been a lot of your focus. And I'm going to start just by asking you what challenges have you faced in covering this story over , you know , not just the the past week , I guess , but also over the past several months that this issue has kind of taken hold on at UC San Diego.
S2: Yeah , absolutely. I think I would for my own experience , I think I would primarily focus on the past week because that has been from it really doesn't feel like a week ago. It feels like a month ago that this began. And since then , when we pulled together our team to cover this , we knew it would be big because of what it's looked like at other university campuses. Um , we knew that it would be taking up our time. It would be something that we would want to put a lot of commitment and effort into as members of the Guardian , trying to be , you know , the student press sharing perspectives that our students want to hear. I think the primary challenge , or one of them at least , is kind of the idea that we're students first and journalists second. That often is true. But honestly , in this past week , I think we are journalists. Firsts. First , um , you know , sometimes we don't go to class because there's something going on that we feel is more important to report to our community. Um , and I think that a lot of us have put our , you know , this has become a priority in our life. And I am happy and satisfied with that decision because , um , not only do we feel it's important to report on this , but it's also incredibly rewarding work to see our community hearing this information from us. The other challenge that I want to highlight is the separation between our personal beliefs and our ability to report on this issue. I think that a lot of us are walking the line between where and if we show support , um , and our , you know , capacity and willingness to be ethical journalists and , you know , talk about this issue. Well , report on it , be present at the scene of protests without participating. And I think that a lot of people in our generation feel really passionate about this , um , while also wanting to report on it effectively. So being so involved in the community , while also trying to be an effective reporter is an interesting balance to find.
S1: And , Raymond , how about you and your role as editor in chief ? Yeah. What's your take on what Vivian just said about her approach ? As , you know , a student versus a reporter ? Yeah.
S4: Um , the distinction between being a student and a journalist is very interesting to me. And I do agree that within this past week especially , we've put on the journalist identity a little bit as like it's been a bigger priority than being a student. But I would like to also highlight that , you know , being a student journalist in itself is an identity. And , you know , these events that are happening on campus , like we are students at this campus and these are like grounds for like reporting. And it's it's very interesting to see and to like , experience such something so important happening on our campuses that , you know , that we are a part of intrinsically as a student , but also like as a student journalist , we have an interesting perspective because we know the community. These are our friends , our peers , our professors that are , you know , doing this. And it's something so interesting to have as like a position within all of this. I think being a student journalist specifically gives us a certain perspective in our reporting that other news organizations , you know , they don't have because they aren't students.
S1: And Vivian , on that , I mean , how do you feel the Guardian's coverage differs from other media media outlets ? I mean , I think Raymond talked a little bit about , you know , your your insight to the community. Obviously , your commitment to getting student voices sounds like a priority.
S2: And then or by that I mean. We choose to tell this story from the point of view of student journalists who live on campus , who are close to these people. So to to us , that means a deeper , I think , more nuanced understanding of what is going on on site. We , as Raymond said , we are on campus pretty much every day. In this past week , we were there every day at the encampment. We were there for every protest. We were there as early as we could be on Monday for the raid. Um , we witnessed the counter-protest and pretty much everything else involved. Other reporters were there when they heard that things were happening , and I don't fault them. I don't think that , um , it's any one news source job to get every single aspect of something , but I think it's our job to do that. And I think we did that. And I think our goal was to be as , um , you know , get as in-depth coverage as we could of this because it was so important to our students. And it's , you know , it feels like the biggest , you know , issue of student journalism that I myself have been involved in , you know , and like , we have the capacity to report on it in the way that we have. We were doing live updates for a while. We published almost every day something about it. We have the capacity.
S1:
S4: And so I think building that trust is super important and making sure that these students and these people that we are interviewing are heard.
S1: That's next on Round Table. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today we're talking about the Gaza Solidarity encampment , which was taken down by police earlier this week. I'm joined by Vivian Decker and Raymond Tran from UC San Diego's Guardian newspaper. Some members of the media have been told protesters may be unwilling to speak to media members or choosing to remain anonymous if they do.
S4: We have offered anonymity to every single one of our interview , our interviewees , and I think that it's something really hard to navigate because , you know , obviously student protesters are going to be skeptical about talking to the media because they don't want to be like portrayed in a skewed way , and they don't want their names out there , like , solely associated with the cause. Because , you know , at the end of the day , they are just a part of a movement. And that movement is like a lot bigger than an individual. And then so if their name is out there , then they could easily be like attributed to , like the movement itself. So I understand the hesitancy. How we've been kind of navigating this , like I said , is like granting anonymity and also making connections with the people that we do interview to make sure that they trust us , to make sure that they're that they're willing to talk about things that like , they are able to talk about things to us that they wouldn't without. Without any hesitancy , I would say. And so I think building that trust is super important and making sure that these students and these people that we are interviewing are heard , and to make sure that these stories are told accurately. Um , that means different things for different interviewees , but that's the priority we've been trying to make.
S1: Vivian touched on this earlier. The idea of the relationship you have to the UCSD community , and how that helps you , um , have a certain insight into the story and what's happening there over the past week. Raymond , I'm curious , you know , what do you think has been missing in media coverage you've seen over the over the last week from the protests at UC San Diego ? Yeah.
S4: So , you know , we've talked about how our perspectives at student journalists really give us like a very special insight about how , like , we can be reporting about this. Um , and that really. It really became clear to me how important it is a student journalist to reporting on this. When I read a New York Times article about the events that occurred on Monday , and while I was reading it , I felt like this was the most generalized , thrown together article about this , like about the events that occurred on that morning that like , you could ever write. To be honest , I felt like , um , no mention of the altercations between the protesters and the police. There were no student voices , if I recall correctly. The only quotations that came was from like the Chancellor's statement towards the school. And I feel like for an event that is so student centric , it lacked that perspective. And I feel like , you know , other news organizations are definitely making an attempt to get student voices. But I think that just overall , it's lacking that nuance that , you know , us as students can like , give it's lacking the like the details and the and the understanding of like , this was like , Viv and I were here. We're at the encampment for 8 to 10 hours a day , and we have not we didn't see anything violent. And I , I feel like. Media coverage kind of paints this in a way where it's like , oh , like people were arrested. And then there was like a riot afterwards , which isn't the case. We were there. And , you know , these people in the encampment , they weren't violent. They weren't. They weren't a danger to anyone. And so that's what really. Like what makes me angry ? Kind of about like , other coverage about this. It's that like. Like these are people's lives. These are people's like. We care about this issue so deeply. And I think that the news coverage isn't necessarily reflective of that , like the news coverage isn't humanizing these people as students and about like what this cause means to them.
S1:
S2: And I did say this earlier. I don't know that it's possible for other news outlets to understand this issue in the way that we do , which is why I'm happy that we are able to take on that role and do that for our community. Um , and I know that we are constantly trying to be able to shine a light on those perspectives and thinking about the ways that we frame this issue , listening to concerns and thinking about how we can do better as well. And this is not just something that will happen for one week. This is an event , a moment in history that I think will continue to have an impact on our community. Um , you know , people will be continuing to have thoughts , there will be implications , there will be changes. Um , and our reporting on those things will continue to develop too.
S1: You both have been covering this story also while being full time college students , right ? I think you guys have midterms this week going on. But Raymond , you've mentioned being on site 8 to 10 hours a day , you know , covering the story. So how have you and your colleagues at The Guardian been managing this balance between being college students and journalists ? Yeah.
S4: So , um , like , even though we were there for 8 to 10 hours , like , obviously something isn't happening for the entire duration of those hours. So we the reason for us being there for so long was to like , make sure we were there if something happened and to take notes if something like were to occur. So a lot of us , you know , we sat across like from the green across the encampment. We pulled out our laptops and we did work. We like we worked on our schoolwork. We worked on midterms. Multitask. Yeah. Um , yeah. And a lot of us , you know , we went home at like 10 p.m. , and then we got home and we also did schoolwork. And to wake up at like 8 a.m. the next day to get back onto the scene. It requires a lot of dedication , and I would just like to , like , shout out to the team that we put together to cover the encampment because they've dedicated so much time and they've worked so hard and they've made sacrifices definitely to be here. And so I would just like a shout out to those people on our staff.
S1: Vivian , what about how you've been reporting on this breaking story ? Obviously , social media has been playing a big role. Can you talk about what your approach has been ? I think Raymond talked about just the struggles of like meeting deadline and getting because you guys do publish , you print a paper too.
S2: So since last Wednesday , I think our primary goal was to get things out as soon as possible. So I think we had suspected that something like this might happen at UCSD , and we wanted to have a team able to , you know , work on that. So as soon as we saw that it happened , we pulled together a team. Um , we got out our first article or I think it was an Instagram post as soon as possible. Since then , anytime that anything happens , we have writers on it immediately , and then we try to have a more in-depth explanation of those events that are happening , um , later that day or the next day. So usually that looks like an Instagram post when things are happening , and then later a more in-depth article that has more of those , like nuances or like more in-depth explanations of things that happened. I also think , like I said , we've done a lot of Instagram posts that has been like a primary method of us getting things out to our students. I don't know that they all read the paper , to be honest , or even the online version , but everybody's on Instagram , especially right now. You know , we've had honestly like a massive increase in like engagement and following as well because of our ability to like , do pretty much live coverage of events that happen. You know , even just last night , there was an Associated Students Votes , um , on , you know , their opinions on or I think it was a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor. We got that out as soon as we possibly could. So , you know , every time something happens , we are on top of it.
S1: And on that social media , you know , relying on social media to tell this story. I mean , what's your thoughts on where journalism needs to go to reach your fellow students , young people today ? Where do you think that needs to go ? Yeah.
S4: So I think that our social media presence is so important. Like Viv said , like I'm not sure a lot of students are necessarily picking up our papers every week or reading our online version , but they are on Instagram. And social media is such an important place where mobilization occurs and where people are getting their information and sharing , you know , videos and when protests are happening and information. And so making sure our social media presence is there and it's strong and information is readily available , there is a priority that we've that we've made during this process. We've had a lot of like for my experience , I've seen a lot of people reposts our Instagram posts to spread information , and I think that is where kind of journalism needs to go , especially with this , like newer , like younger generation where we are on social media. And , um , there is a way to transform whatever it's like on paper or on a website to a social media post to make it , you know , more available and accessible to this generation.
S1: Vivian , anything to add ? Yeah.
S2: I also wanted to say photography has been a huge part of our coverage , both on social media and online. We have incredible photographers with The Guardian who've been part of this team also on site constantly , and I think that's another way that we want to tell these stories.
S1: So this week has been a pretty historic one for UC San Diego , as you have been talking about. And the story of the protest , it isn't over. I'm sure there's more to come. Right. So what's next for the story for you both ? Raymond , I'll start with you.
S4: I feel like what's next is always dependent on what happens next. Um , I think a priority we're trying to make in terms of , like , retroactive coverage is getting , you know , the story straight about , like , what happened Monday morning because , you know. Like it was very early and they were like little to no media people there to cover what actually happened Monday morning. So everything is testimonial. Everything is like hearsay. Um , and so I think it is important to acknowledge that there is a gap in coverage , like from like the UCSD Guardian and also other news organizations , because no one was on site. Right. And then so I think moving forward , I would like to kind of like fill that gap. I feel like we're , um , we're we're in the talks of like kind of how we should do that. But that is something that we've been talking about and I guess , like moving forward when it comes to other protests and things. Um , the most time intensive part of it , I would say , is hopefully over , um , because there is an encampment to keep watch of like 24 over seven. Um , and so I guess what we need now is to be able to pick up and go whenever something does happen , like a protest and planning ahead. And yeah , I think we're in a good place , like as an organization to be doing that.
S1:
S2: Um , this week in like the kind of news facet of things we're going to be reporting on student organizations , faculty responses to what happened. That's going to be in our paper this weekend and probably online as well. And then in the bigger picture , just kind of reflecting on how these events have impacted our student body , what our reporting has looked like , how it could maybe change , um , how it can be better and just , you know , continuing to try to be good journalist for our student body.
S1: I've been speaking with Raymond Tran. He's the editor in chief of UC San Diego's Guardian newspaper , along with the Guardian's feature editor , Vivian Decker. She will actually be taking over as managing editor next school year. You can find more of their work at UCSD Guardian. Org. Thanks again for being here. Yeah.
S4: Thank you.
S2: Thank you so much.
S4: Summer fun.
S1: When we come back. We get the latest on KPBS coverage of the Imperial County , including more on a restoration project along the Colorado River.
S5: It's about removing harmful plants and bringing back these native three native species that sort of are indigenous to the landscape and have played a role in the region for a long time.
S1: That's next after the break. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. We turn our attention now to the Imperial County. Corey Suzuki covers the region for KPBS. And he joins me now to talk about some of his recent reporting there. Hey , Cory.
S5: Hey , Andrew. Thanks for having me.
S1: Thanks for being here. So in your most recent story , you documented a river restoration project happening in eastern Imperial County.
S5: Well , this project , this restoration project was a tree planting event. It was focused on putting these young saplings in the ground along the river. And this was happening on the eastern edge of Imperial County , kind of very close to the Arizona , California border. And I would say this restoration project was kind of important for two reasons. I mean , number one , this was happening happening along the Colorado River , which , you know , is not it's not really doing so hot right now. I mean , it's a it's a major American waterway. It supports tens of millions of people. But the river , I think the the latest research shows that it's really continued to to buckle under the strain of both climate change and also industrial , agricultural and urban uses. The amount of people drawing water from the river. So there is a are a lot of discussions happening right now around all of the states that that rely on , on water from the Colorado River. So that was sort of the the first reason that this felt like a significant event. And then the second reason that I think it was important is , is that this effort , this restoration effort is really being spearheaded by the Kitson Indian Tribe , the Fort Yuma Kitsune Indian tribe , which is one of California's tribes , also based both kind of on the California Arizona border. So also in Arizona tribe. But the tribe's Department of Environmental Protection has been leading this restoration effort and has been trying to replant these trees and sort of bring back this more native ecosystem along the parts of the river where it passes through the Watson Reservation. And the goal of this restoration effort was to to put 700 trees in the ground. The other week when I was there , this was all supposed to happen in one morning.
S1: And so , you know , you were there watching this tree planting project. Describe what you saw.
S5: Like I mentioned , it's right where that state line kind of traces along the Colorado River. And the restoration project was sort of taking place , kind of sandwiched on this strip of land between the river and the freeway , right where Interstate eight bumps kind of up against the Colorado River. And so there was sort of the river on one side , the freeway on the other , and then on the other side of the freeway , all this farmland , there's a lot of a lot of land , both just kind of in the area near Yuma and also land on the reservation that is leased out to farmers , both tribal and non-indigenous farmers. And so there are a lot of different kind of landscapes coming together at once. It's also very dry there in this sort of little strip of land where the restoration was happening. But that's partly because the environmental department of the tribe has gone through already and cleared out a lot of weeds and invasive brush , especially this bush called salt cedar , which kind of has these deep root systems and creates salty deposits , draws a lot of water from from the area and kills a lot of plants usually. So volunteers were kind of showing up and sort of just moving down rows of this empty space where the these weeds had been cleared out and planting these , these young trees in the ground , trees that were about like maybe a foot a couple feet high.
S1: And this project , as you mentioned , it's trying to remove these invasive salt cedar fronds and replacing them.
S5: It's about removing harmful plants and bringing back these native three native species that sort of are indigenous to the landscape and have have played a role in the region for a long time. Salt cedar in particular , is an invasive species. It's considered an invasive species in this area. And it's because it is really damaging to the ecosystem. It has these deep root systems that it sinks into the ground. It soaks up a lot of water. Um , and it also true to its name , creates these salty deposits in the ground. So it kind of really disrupts the ecosystem , takes a lot of the the resources in the area from other plants and kind of ends up sort of dominating in the area because of it. And what the Carson tribe is trying to do is clear out these cedar plants , salt cedar plants and other , um , weeds and invasive species and then bring back three native species plant three native kinds of trees , cottonwoods , willows and honey mesquite trees.
S1: And yeah. Can you talk more about the history of the. On people , their history in that region , and kind of the meaning of the river to them as well.
S5: Yeah , absolutely. The Watson tribe , like we've been talking about is a California tribe. Their reservation , the , the current , the current land that the tribe owns and then also the tribe's ancestral homeland , which is is much larger. Both straddle California and Arizona. So the the reservation sits right next to Yuma and Winter Haven , right along the California and Arizona border , and then the tribe's ancestral homeland. According to the. The sites that map out historic native homelands spans both California and Arizona , reaching kind of across parts of Yuma County and parts of Imperial County. And so the Watson tribe has lived along the Colorado River for a long time , long before European settlers colonized North America. And the tribe has really played a big role in both the Arizona region and this and the southeastern corner of California.
S1: And earlier , you mentioned the Colorado River and some of the the challenges that it's been facing over the past several years.
S6:
S5: One thing that I think is really important to understanding how exactly the Watson tribe has been able to drive these restoration efforts. This tree planting effort is one big project that the environmental department has been undertaking. But it's not the only restoration work that the tribe has been doing. They've also been leading the restoration of some wetlands in Yuma. That is another project that's been unfolding over the last decade. And in both of those cases , the Gatson tribe have put some of the tribe's federally protected water rights towards those projects , devoted some of that water , which , again , the water in the Colorado River is , um , is strictly regulated. The Watson tribe has taken some of that water that they're allocated and put it towards these restoration projects to to try and make sure that the the trees that they're planning now and the wetlands are flourishing and have the water that they need to kind of grow and take back that habitat. And the Clayton tribe. Just to note , the Watson tribe is one of a handful of reservations , specifically , um , that have been allocated federally , federally to create water rights. This stems back to a 1963 Supreme Court decision that made these rights enshrined into law. And so the tribe has that sort of protected right that , um , that also , uh , state governments and regional agencies have in many cases along the Colorado River.
S1: I want to turn to another recent story of yours , and that's the story. You document the effort to restore a post office in the town of Niland in Imperial County. Tell us what happened there in 2022 and the story. That's what they've been struggling with since. Really ? Right.
S5: Yeah , absolutely. Well , Niland is a small town on the north end of Imperial County. Um , it sits sort of right at the intersection of the railroad and the State Route 111 , which is one of the main highways in Imperial County. And this town has kind of been through a lot recently. It's sort of the population has been falling for , um , for a while. Uh , it used to be a really big farm tomato farming community , and that has tapered off based on some changes in national trade policy and kind of the fact that it's become more expensive to grow tomatoes in Imperial Valley and , um , less expensive to get tomatoes from other sources. And so a lot has changed for the town. It's also seen some pretty big , uh , natural disasters , some floods and a big wildfire. And then two years ago in 2022 , the town's post office burned down. This was a smaller fire. Was it was specific to the post office. But when the building burned down , what it meant was that this the small town of um , which a majority of residents are , live below the poverty line and many people are older and don't have access to cars , were completely cut off from daily access to the mail , and the Postal Service said that they would reopen it as soon as possible , that they would do their best to check out the building and and see what what they could do next. But in the in the two years since that's happened , residents have still not received any concrete updates on when that's going to happen. And today , as we sit here , the post office is still closed and residents still do not have daily access to things like medication and paychecks , groceries that are delivered through the mail , all of these kinds of essential essential goods and services that that are delivered through this service that is , is completely cut off on a day to day basis.
S1: And that community's efforts to get their post office reopened is now getting the attention of some California lawmakers in Washington. DC , right ? Yeah.
S6:
S5: That's right. And that's a really important point , which I'm glad you brought up , that residents of the town have been , has have spent the last two years fighting really hard to get their post office opened. They've been going to the town , doesn't have a city council , but they've been going to regional board meetings , county board meetings , to to city council meetings in other nearby towns and trying to to make their voices heard. And most recently , they held a protest earlier this year. And to many of the residents , all of that has sort of not been heard by the post office , but it was heard last month by some of California's top lawmakers in Washington , D.C. Senators Alex Padilla and Lafont Butler and , uh , Member of Congress Raul Ruiz , who represents Palm Desert , uh , sent a letter to the postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , a few weeks ago. And they said that the ongoing closure of the Post office in Ireland , specifically , um , was unacceptable. The fact that it had lasted so long and that it had been depriving the residents of this town , um , of this essential service and had been forcing some residents to to drive more than 50 miles to pick up their mail. And they said that that it was it was really important that the Postal Service move quickly to reopen this location to to do whatever it took to restore service , daily service to the island.
S1:
S5: It's possible that the Postal Service has responded to the to California's lawmakers. When we reached out to the Postal Service to get a comment for our story , they said that they didn't have many updates to share and that they would be responding to the lawmakers letters directly. So the Postal Service has not so far been the most willing to talk about the situation. I'm sure there are a lot of conversations happening about what is going to happen next , but at this point , as far as we know , it's still up in the air.
S1: So still no post office for the people of Niland yet.
S5: That's right. Still no post office.
S1: So , Corey , before I let you go , you're also working on a new two part series about the lithium industry and its potential impact for the Imperial Valley.
S5: I think what I would say is that throughout the conversations that I've had as I've been reporting these different stories , kind of starting to , uh , to , to pick up this beat , um , of , of reporting for the Imperial Valley , which I'm , I'm still new to. Lithium has been something that has really been hovering around the edges of every conversation , even if it's not something that we've been talking directly about. It is something that is very clearly at the back of , of , of a lot of people's minds. And I think that that just the fact that that has come up in so many different conversations in the , in the , in the conversations with the different people that I spoke to , um , about the , about an Islands post office , in the conversations that I spoke to , um , that I had when I was reporting the the story about the quits on tribes restoration efforts. Lithium is something that a lot of people are thinking about and that for for good reason. I mean , the state and major , major companies are paying really close attention to this , too , and there's a lot of momentum around it. So I think that taking a look at that and finding a new way to represent the ways that people are feeling that , that residents of the Imperial Valley are feeling about what this change could bring and what it could mean in terms of daily life and how it could actually make a meaningful change for for many people , if at all. I think is is something that I , I've heard on , on a lot of people's minds and is something that we're hoping to , um , to , to get deeper into in this story and hopefully to try and and share some answers as best we can with all the uncertainty that is still that is still here around what exactly the industry and this change is going to mean.
S1: And again , lithium is , as I understand it , something pretty integral to a lot of green energy , a lot of the sort of energy of the future that we're moving towards. And potentially there's a lot of it in Imperial Valley.
S6:
S5: Over the last few years , something that has come into focus. What what's coming to focus is that there are these vast reserves of lithium. Um , like you said , this mineral that is a critical component of lithium ion batteries , which power , you know , electric cars , all kinds of other different energy storage devices that there are large , large reserves of this mineral underneath the Salton Sea , dissolved in the geothermal brine that is stored there. And that is something that the state of California , um , at the , at the. The highest levels. The governor , Gavin Newsom , and major companies like Berkshire Hathaway and Controlled Thermal Resources are interested in trying to find a way to extract. And so that is something that is a really ongoing conversation between sort of these big players , these large multinational corporations and and these state actors. Uh , and then also among kind of just everyone who's sort of living in the Imperial Valley and trying to figure out what this is going to mean for the region.
S1: Cory Suzuki covers the Imperial County and the South Bay for KPBS. Thanks again for being here , Corey.
S5: Thanks so much , Andrea. Thanks for having me.
S1: That'll do it for the KPBS roundtable this week. I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. We'd love to hear from you. If you have show ideas or any comments for us , you can email us at roundtable at PBS.org. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. And we'll see you next time on the KPBS roundtable. Thanks so much for listening.
