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Life & Times Transcript
11/30/07 This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Homes can be rebuilt, but how do you rebuild an orchard? Eric Larson>> Most of them right now are trying to figure out how they're going to get back into business, rebuild, redo the irrigation, replant the trees, replant the plants and do what they have to do to get back in business as quick as they can. Val Zavala>> And then, at the intersection of flamenco, jazz and blues, you'll find the music of Luis Villegas. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> Once the smoke clears, this season's fires will actually provide a boost to certain sectors of our economy, in particular homebuilding, but other sectors will not be as lucky. Avocado growers were hit particularly hard and they'll be feeling the pain for years to come. Hena Cuevas goes to northern San Diego County where there's a concentration of avocado orchards. Hena Cuevas>> Marcos Alcaraz has farmed these lands in Escondido for the past forty years. This is what Maddock Farms looks like today. The crops Alcaraz tenderly cared for are charred and blackened. Thousands of avocado trees, all destroyed by fire. The fire started sweeping through San Diego County on Monday. Evacuation orders quickly went out, but Alcaraz and the other workers here ignored the orders. For a while, they hid from the police so they could stay behind trying their best to save the farm. Marcos Alcaraz>> I stayed in the office until the last moment. The police took me out because I was spraying water on the house and the office. I live next to the office. I was trying to protect things. Hena Cuevas>> But the fire was just too strong. Neither Alcaraz nor the other workers could stop the destruction. Marcos Alcaraz>> I only lost my home, but the owners lost a lot. I think they lost the trees that were ready for sale, thirty thousand trees. They lost thirty thousand trees. Hena Cuevas>> The farm Alcaraz defended belongs to twin brothers, Dave and Steve Maddock. They're fourth generation citrus and avocado growers. Steve Maddock>> "I haven't been up here yet, but those Mexican limes are gone." Hena Cuevas>> California produces ninety percent of the nation's avocados and nearly half come from northern San Diego County. It's a three hundred million dollar industry and an estimated one-third of the crop was in the path of the fire. There are no figures yet on the total losses, but here at Maddock Farms, the brothers figure the damage at more than a million dollars, and they lost more than trees. Dave Maddock>> It's earth shelter and it's over a foot of soil over the top, so we thought we were going to be safe. But this side here, there was wood and the garage was framed wood, so these two parts ignited and went right inside and gutted the whole thing. Hena Cuevas>> Dave, who had to evacuate, came back to a burned home. He says that he was amazed at how the workers fought the flames sometimes using a simple garden hose. Dave Maddock>> Yeah, we're very fortunate. We've had one man with us for fifty-three years, another one for about forty, several more for well over thirty. We've always thought they'd lay their life on the line for us and they did. Hena Cuevas>> A big part of their business was the nursery which is where most of the trees were lost. Steve Maddock>> We provide the farmers in the area with citrus and avocado trees. A good portion, probably half of that, will be gone, so that will be a fair amount of both the citrus and avocados. You can tell right now that they're gone. Hena Cuevas>> What happened to the Maddocks is being repeated on farms throughout San Diego County with avocado growers being the hardest hit. Eric Larson>> We're coming up on an avocado grove right here that really got hit hard by the fire. It looks there are some folks in here starting to do some repair on it right now. Hena Cuevas>> Eric Larson is the Executive Director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit. He's going around the area assessing the damage and he's letting farmers know the Bureau can help them sort through the paperwork and claims. Eric Larson>> Most of them right now are trying to figure out how they're going to get back into business, rebuild, redo the irrigation, replant the trees, replant the plants and do what they have to do to be back in business as quick as they can. "So all those valves are out of the ground? They all melted?" >> "Yes." Eric Larson>> "So below ground is okay?" >> "Below ground is okay." Eric Larson>> "So it's just everything above ground." >> "We cut the pipe, put a coupling and then put the riser." Eric Larson>> "Put the new risers on." >> "Put the new riser and replace all the . . ." Hena Cuevas>> At this farm, more than six hundred sprinkler valves burned. They're being replaced so trees can get watered again as quickly as possible. The trees that are still alive could survive if they get water fast enough. Each tree has to be sized individually. Eric Larson>> The first thing they'll have to do is look at their groves and decide which trees can recover. Just because they're burned doesn't mean they die. They'll give those trees a few weeks to see if they start to sprout and come back, but that'll take some time. In other cases, the trees are just gone. There are nothing but twigs left where the trees were. In those cases, those growers know right off the bat that it's either replacement or go out of business. Hena Cuevas>> Even the green fruit that didn't burn is lost. That's because the branches are charred and too weak to hold the heavy fruit, so the avocados end up falling to the ground. About half of California's sixty-two thousand acres of avocados are insured, but that doesn't mean that those with insurance won't have to incur additional costs. That's because crop insurance only covers the loss of the crop itself. That is, the avocados. What it doesn't cover is the cost of replacing each one of these trees and it will take between six to ten years for one of these to mature. This is all new territory for the brothers. In their families, more than sixty years in the business, they've never had to file a claim. Steve Maddock>> Your trees, of course, both your nursery trees and your fruit trees, that's kind of your bank. You pour all your money into that all year long hoping that you're going to sell the tree or get enough return at the end of the year from the fruit that you'll be able to come out ahead. Yeah, that's where everything is all tied up in the crop. Eric Larson>> Plus, if it's an avocado grower and they had crop insurance, they probably wouldn't be eligible for payments until 2009 because they have to wait until the crop year of 2008 is over to see what the value of the crop would have been, and then payments would be coming in the following year. So that's a very long process and doesn't provide any immediate relief. Hena Cuevas>> This fire season will join a long list of challenges faced by farmers in San Diego County. Last January, they were hit by a destructive frost which caused thirty-eight million dollars in damages. Then there's the ongoing drought, which means that, starting next year, farmers will have to cut water usage by thirty percent. Eric Larson>> In all the years I've been in agriculture, I've discovered that the farmers are amazingly resilient. They choose agriculture not just as a business, but as a lifestyle as well. They want to be out there in the field and I don't think any of them can imagine doing anything else. Hena Cuevas>> The Maddock brothers and their workers are back on the farm getting the sprinkler system up and running. They're also figuring out a way to get back into business and, despite all they've lost, they're looking forward to helping other farmers get back on their feet. Steve Maddock>> Fortunately, right along the freeway, there are still some orchard trees that are still intact. In fact, pretty much untouched, so we do have something to offer the farmers if they choose to start up again. Hena Cuevas>> Starting up again will be an uphill battle, but then as Larson says, farmers are a resilient bunch. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Toni Guinyard>> Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have long been a concern of researchers and doctors here at LA BioMed. They want to see the development of new antibiotics, but it's not going to be easy or quick. We spoke with Dr. John Edwards, an LA BioMed researcher, about the problems and the potential solutions. Dr. Edwards, your concern is about antibiotics to treat these staph infections. What we're seeing is a growing number of the infections and no drugs to treat them. Dr. John Edwards>> Well, we're very concerned about that. It's not only staphylococcus, but there are other microorganisms that are becoming resistant to the antibiotics, many of them, in fact. It's a problem we are dealing with every day in our clinical practice. Toni Guinyard>> Why are we seeing more of these cases now as opposed to five or ten years ago? Dr. John Edwards>> It's just a natural course of events for the introduction of anti-infective agents into the general population. Microbes see them and they just become resistant to them. We didn't really understand that before, but we understand it clearly now. It's just going to continue as the future develops. Toni Guinyard>> It seems like it's impossible to ignore this right now. Every news station you turn on, every newspaper you open, there's a story about MRSA. Dr. John Edwards>> Well, that's exactly what we would expect because we just feel that eventually it will become more and more frequent and peoples' awareness of the problem will be increasing all the time now. But as I mentioned, it's not just MRSA. We're going to see other resistant organisms become infective in the community setting, such as e-coli and others. Eventually, we'll be hearing about people getting serious infections from those organisms as well. Toni Guinyard>> Well, what can we do? We're just the general public. We purchase what antibiotics we're prescribed. What are we supposed to do? Dr. John Edwards>> One of the things that the general public could do that would be extremely beneficial is to interact with the lawmakers and express their concern about this development of resistance so that they will then know that we have to do something about this problem. Toni Guinyard>> Well, it just seems to make sense that, if you have the problem, the companies would be saying, "Hey, we need to develop drugs to treat these issues." Dr. John Edwards>> Well, you would think that would be the case, but what is really happening here is a societal political conundrum, if you will. The companies are now under a lot of pressure to develop drugs for problems in our aging population such as Alzheimer's. Diabetes is another example, arthritis, these chronic illnesses. If they can develop a drug that will be used by a large number of people for most of their lives, that's the sort of area they are going into. So antibiotics are very effective. They're really taken by a relatively small number of people and they work very well and aren't taken very long, so there's an economic pressure on the pharmaceutical companies to go away from antibiotics and more towards these drugs for chronic illnesses. Toni Guinyard>> What has your research uncovered? Dr. John Edwards>> We have found that there has been a precipitous decline in the number of new antibiotics that have been developed over the last several years. A graph showing that just shows a direct downhill trend so that now there are only a handful of these drugs that are proved over each five-year interval for the last several decades. Toni Guinyard>> So what are we supposed to do? If we end up contracting this, we are used to just going to the doctor, getting some kind of antibiotic and then taking it and going home. Dr. John Edwards>> Well, the doctors are going to be faced with, first of all, identifying whether or not it's a resistant organism and then, secondly, trying to select what relatively few drugs we still have available that are going to work against the infection. As time goes on, that number that is going to work is going to continue to diminish and that's why we need new antibiotics produced so badly. Toni Guinyard>> Now the research that you've done has been presented to lawmakers, but what has been the impact of that? Dr. John Edwards>> The Infectious Disease Society of America has devoted a tremendous amount of effort over the last five years to try to make lawmakers aware of the need to create incentives for the pharmaceutical companies to remain engaged in anti-infective research. What we've actually done is met with them directly, written to them and tried in every way we can to get the message about this resistance into a priority that is at a very level for the lawmakers. Toni Guinyard>> And when you say incentives, what are you referring to? Dr. John Edwards>> The kinds of ideas that have been entertained are tax breaks for pharmaceutical companies that engage in anti-infective research, and prolongation of patent life of drugs that are used for infection. Those should be adequate incentives for pharmaceutical companies to then regain the extremely high costs that exist for developing new anti-infective agents. Toni Guinyard>> And if that was given, that okay was given right now, those incentives were put on the table, how long could it possibly take until we get a new antibiotic on the market? Dr. John Edwards>> Well, I would answer the question as how long would it take for us to get enough new antibiotics on the market? It isn't just a single one. There still are antibiotics which are being approved, but not at the rate that we need. But if those types of incentives were put in place now, it will be many years before a large and satisfactory number of antibiotics will get put on the market because it takes many, many years of research. Then it has to be pre-clinical research, then patients have to be studied, then the approval process is necessary. So many people feel it's about eight to ten years, once a new drug is discovered in the laboratory, before it will get approved by the FDA and go into patients. Toni Guinyard>> I don't want to draw a conclusion, but are you targeting the pharmaceutical companies? Dr. John Edwards>> When you say targeting them, the pharmaceutical companies really are not at fault for the fact that they're not developing these new agents. This is a political societal conundrum. We have a free market society here and the pharmaceutical companies must not only address the changing needs in our population, but they also have to maintain their financial welfare so that they can continue to develop new treatments and new drugs. At the present time, the production of anti-infective agents is just not financially remunerative for them. Toni Guinyard>> Is it frustrating for you? Dr. John Edwards>> It's been very frustrating for the Infectious Disease Society people. We see the problem so clearly. We have the data. Actually creating legislation that is going to create incentives is a very difficult process and a very slow process. Toni Guinyard>> Is there anything we can do at home to protect ourselves from getting one of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Dr. John Edwards>> Well, just the basic principles of basic hygiene are really the major issue here. Frequent hand-washing and general cleanliness and clothes washing and so forth are the best ways at present to stay away from these kinds of resistant organisms. Toni Guinyard>> Dr. Edwards, thank you for sharing your information and thank you for spending some time with Life and Times. Dr. John Edwards>> Thank you for this interest in this subject. It will help with the solution as time goes on. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> You're about to meet an amazing guitarist who loves flamenco and jazz and rock and blues and classical and grew up listening to traditional Mexican ranchero music. So what does Luis Villegas and his band sound like today? Give a listen. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> What you're hearing now is the result of a long musical evolution. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> This number is called "Nuevo Vida", New Life. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> But it's a far cry from the music that Luis Villegas grew up with. Luis was raised in East Los Angeles, a first-generation son of Mexican immigrants. As a boy, he got to meet the famous Mexican ranchero singer, Vicente Fernandez, and listened to traditional Mexican ballads. But like so many teenagers, it was rock and roll that got him hooked on the guitar. So it was rock music and not Mexican music? Luis Villegas>> Not Mexican music that attracted me to the guitar because the first instrument I ever wanted to play was an electric guitar. [Film Clip] Luis Villegas>> That was when I first felt like I really want to play guitar now. I really want to play. I want to learn that guitar solo that Jimmy Page does on "Heartbreaker" or I want to learn "Eruption" by Eddie Van Halen. This was, you know, in the mid-1980s when the rock and roll heavy metal explosion was happening here in Los Angeles. Val Zavala>> But heavy metal is not the kind of music mothers take comfort in. Luis Villegas>> My mother didn't understand it, didn't understand it very well, but she trusted me. Val Zavala>> Right, because rock and roll and drugs were all intertwined then. Luis Villegas>> Yes, exactly. That was her fear, but, again, she trusted me and she knew I had a good head on my shoulders. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> All through high school and into college, Luis played in rock bands. Then in his early twenties, something happened. Luis Villegas>> I think I'd hit a wall in my appreciation for rock music. I think I needed a little more stimulus. Val Zavala>> So he picked up the acoustic guitar and started experimenting with classical, jazz and even flamenco music. Luis Villegas>> A lot of the techniques that I do are based on flamenco guitar techniques, a lot of thumb. [Film Clip] Luis Villegas>> But then I did a lot of classical music as well. This was when I was experimenting a lot, just learning a lot of different stuff. Like this is one of my favorite pieces, a jazz Bach piece. [Film Clip] Luis Villegas>> A little bit of rock too. [Film Clip] Luis Villegas>> Or blues. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Luis's mastery of the guitar pleases his father who had an unfortunate experience when he was young. Luis Villegas>> When he was younger, he was after a particular girl. One day their dad found out and chased him out of the house and shot at him with a pistol. Val Zavala>> Shot at your dad? Luis Villegas>> Shot at my dad. Shot him in the hand and I remember seeing, you know, just a little something there, but he said that prevented him from playing guitar, an instrument he had always wanted to play. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Today the Luis Villegas Band has a unique style with Bryant Siono on bass, David on guitar, and Chris Trujillo on congas. His first CD was nominated for a Grammy in the New Age category. Then he was swept into the Nuevo Flamenco wave and, most recently, he's been one of the very few Latinos to be popular on Smooth Jazz stations. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> So what do you call what you do now? Luis Villegas>> That is one of the hardest questions. That question has been posed to me who knows how many times in the last ten to twelve years, and I still don't have a good answer for you. Because it's really a mixture of a lot of different styles, I think. Especially growing up in Los Angeles where you have this type of music here and that type of music there and you really bring it all in. Then what comes out of you is an amalgamation of all these sounds. Val Zavala>> Luis Villegas has performed with everyone from virtuoso guitarist Jesse Cook, and he's played for Placido Domingo and Janet Jackson as well. And despite the band's Latin Jazz style, sometimes they just can't help themselves. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> So what's the next phase in the Luis Villegas evolution? That depends in part on the music business. Luis Villegas>> You know, the music business has changed so much. Record companies often try to categorize you so that you'll fit this mold or that mold. With the new music business now, with the internet, it's splintered even more. I mean, you can get into sub-genres of sub-genres and you'll have an audience. People will find you. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> And with rhythms like this, more and more listeners from all corners of the music world are finding Luis Villegas. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Luis Villegas has a new Christmas CD out and you can hear them live along with two other groups at a concert sponsored by the Pasadena Symphony. It's this Monday evening at the Autry Center in Griffith Park. For details, go to pasadenasymphony.org. The concert is free. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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