hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. today, george lopez and carlos santana, touring together across the nation. so you don't want to miss that. plus, the lieutenant santiago scholarship foundation. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ we begin today with the flamenco society of san jose. eddie and catherine diaz are

with me here. they're bringing la rena? is that the title? we'll talk about her in a bit, but tell us about the flamenco society first and foremost, if you will. >> sure. we're a non-profit organization. we've been around over 25 years. and what we do is promote the art of flamenco. we have presented some of the greatest pla meinko artists from traditional to modern flamenco and different styles from the guitar, dancing, and now we have a flamenco piano guitarist. >> and tell us about her a little bit. we're going to play a quick -- let me play this quick clip, and then at the other end, you can tell us a little bit about her. play about 15 seconds of this. ♪ ♪ >> so, tell us about her. there she is in white dress. who is she and what does she do

that's so fabulous, if you will? >> well, her name is larena hatia, from the birthday birthplace of pflamenco. she graduated from the school of music and she is one of the few gypsy pianists in the world and is doing some amazing steps. she'll be coming to the bay area with a percussionist and a dancer, and she's just incredible. >> off camera, you were telling me this is no small deal. this is a big deal. >> it is a big deal, especially. she is the upcoming artist from spain. right now she is doing all of the major tv shows in spain. and also, that is such a unique thing. when most people think about flamenco, they think about, first of all, dancing and guitar, or the singing, but nobody thinks of flamenco piano. and this is something that she has done that is very unique. there is not that many people that play flamenco piano.

there is people that play piano, but they do a lot of fusion flamenco with jazz or classical music, but what she's doing, she's doing traditional flamenco with the piano, and she's just perfect. a gypsy, coming from spain, coming to united states for the first time. this is her premiere here in the united states, so it's a great thing. we're so proud to have her here and it's going to be an incredible show. highly recommend it. >> you're bringing her here to the bay area. again, we talked about how big of a deal this is, but to have a female flamenco artist like this. catherine, for you, again, how big is this and why should people attend? what should we expect? >> she's just amazing. i discovered her on youtube, and then became friends with her on facebook, so we had that bay area connection. and last year we went to spain and we visited her and we fell in love with her. five months ago, we went to her wedding in spain, a real gypsy wedding. we took our children and we just, we're in love with her and we're just so excited to bring

her to the bay area. it's just our dream come true. we've been working on it for half a year and we're just so excited. >> that's great. >> and we have all of the flamenco from carlos montoya, all of the modern flamenco guitaris guitarists. i don't think we've ever been so excited. i mean, this is especially because she is brand new, i guess breaking ground, somebody that we're bringing here for the first time. it's very exciting and something that we're really going to see growing. we really think she has a big future here in the united states, because i think her music doesn't just appeal for flamencos. i think this is going to appeal worldwide for different kinds of people who like different kinds of music and especially the flamenco lovers. >> they call her la reia gitana. give me the dates she will be performing here, eddie, or catherine. >> she'll be at the center for performing arts on july 15th. >> that's in mountain view. >> in mountain view, okay. >> and then on july 16th at the hoover, historical hoover theater in the rose garden area,

right across from the egyptian museum. then on the 17th, we're going to be doing a private house concert in gilroy, and i'm going to be making a piea, so it's going to be really fun. >> logon for more information. thank you so much for the work you do to promote flamenco. >> thank you for having us. >> coming up next on "comunidad del valle," the east side

community district going solar. the largest k-12 solar school project in the country is right here in east san jose. with me is frank veal, vice president of the board of trustees of the east side union heights division. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> let's show the viewers what we're talking about. well, tell us basically what you're doing at east side. >> well, at east side, we've basically had the opportunity to take capital dollars and invest them to provide operating funds for our schools. >> and that means what for the carbon footprint and what for retaining teachers? >> well, for retaining teachers,

we think this will save between 25 and 30 teachers in these very difficult budget times we have. and in terms of carbon footprint, it's the 4,900 metric tons annually of carbon that will be sequestered because of this project. that's the equivalent of 800 football fields filled with pine trees. >> wow. tell us about chevron's involvement, because you've partnered with chevron, and how big of a no-brainer was this to do that? i mean, i've seen these parking structures that we're looking at right now here on camera, and i mean, it's phenomenal. why didn't we think of this before, i guess? >> well, the opportunity came recently with a series of rebates that were available from pg&e, and our district put the money down to sign up for those rebates and followed through with a contract with chevron energy solutions to build the project. >> go ahead. >> and we're very happy that they were able to come in, completed the project six months ahead of schedule. it's producing 14% more energy than what was projected, and it

will save $43 million over the life of the project. that's 25 years. >> that's awesome. but for those of you who might be naive a little bit about kilowatts and megawatts and what not, what will one campus produce? is it enough to generate a ton of electricity? what will one campus be able to provide for itself? >> well, each campus will be able to provide over half of their own electricity. >> wow. you're talking about football games, that's a whole lot of -- >> that's a lot of electricity. and during the summer, we actually make money, because when school's out, we're producing electricity during when the sun is shining and sort of make hay while the sun shines. and this has been a great opportunity for us to roll the meter backwards. >> that's a good point. why are all of the other districts now following your lead, though? why do you think that you being the leader nationwide when it comes to this type of carbon footprint? >> well, things are very difficult for school financing, for all school districts in the state of california, and this is a great opportunity to save money on electricity and use

that money to provide for staff and services for our children that are in school. >> and we've heard of solar panels for decades, and it seems like just recently, the last three or four years or so, they've taken off. one of the school districts down south, i mean, everybody seems to be doing this. >> well, i think it's a very good thing to do, and i'm pleased that we were the leader in the valley here, and we're the largest now in the united states. so, i'm very proud of what we've done at the eastside. >> for those of us who might not know how it works, can you talk about vandalism? has anything happened there that worries you or worries other folks who might be venturing into this type of project? >> well, at this point, we haven't had any vandalism at all and we've had a great support from our students on campus for this project. in fact, several of the environmental clubs on campus, both at oak grove and evergreen high school and james lick came forward and were great advocates for this project. so, i think it's something that's really quite in line with the 21st generation of students. >> well, we talked about the

carb footprint, we talked about saving teachers' jobs in the long run. what type of a teaching mechanism, if you will, is this for our students, for the district to say this is what we're doing, this is how we're going to do it, to make sure that we're environmentally sound in this district? >> well, we have a monitor on each campus which shows daily what is happening with the amount of electricity that's produced. that's a teaching aide that can be used. and in addition, chevron provided us with a series of solar energy kits that have a number of projects that can be incorporated into classroom discussions and science classes. we're very excited about this. but there's also discussion that occurs in our social science classes as we address the great issues of the 21st century, which i think is essentially energy conversion. >> great point. a lot of teachable moments at the east side union high school project. take a look at their projects online. there is the website for more information. they've got some amazing things going on. any final thoughts before we let you go? >> i'm very happy that we were able to bring everyone together,

our teachers, administrators and school board to bring a very good and proud project to the east side for the benefit of our students. >> all right. frank is the vice president of the board of trustees at the east side high school district. up next on "comunidad del valle," the lieutenant santiago

memorial scholarship

fund-raiser. the lieutenant santiago foundation is having its annual scholarship rockin' in the vineyards event coming up here this coming saturday. with me are bertha santiago, and todd mcwilliams is a past scholarship recipient, now a student at uc davis. welcome to the show. we played it last year, bertha. >> yes. >> we have some old footage of lieutenant santiago. we lost him a few years ago. but there he is. your thoughts when you take a look at these old clips of your husband. >> what i'm thinking, he's looking as good as ever. >> he was on the boards and just a strong community leader.

this is why back when we were an abc station, he was honored as a spirit of excellence recipient. tell us about what he did and what he meant to this community. >> what jose really stood for is promoting young people, mentoring young people, wanting them to stay in high school, pursue a higher education to be able to not only promote their own life and make it, achieve their goals, but also contribute to the community. that was very important to him. and i think one of the ways he did that, not only going to the high schools and encouraging the seniors to stay in school, but also at work, he was very involved in mentoring the young officers, especially he focused on females and minorities,

because he knew they had a little bit more challenges to be promoted. >> right. >> and would train also the young officers. >> and that's why we honor him every year. what did you see in this young man next to you that made you say he's going to receive a scholarship in the name of my husband? >> well, todd is the kind of student that we're looking for. he is involved in the community, but also, he has the grades, he has goals. and he wants to take those goals, and again, we're looking what will he be doing for the community at large once he finishes his degree. >> what's it mean to you, todd, to be able to receive this scholarship, and what do you plan to do with the honor of receiving it, not the money itself, but just the fact that now you can put that on your resume, that you're the recipient to this scholarship? >> well, i think it's a great honor, because lieutenant santiago was such a great man, and he's a really great role model, especially because of how much he did care about

education, and i pride myself on caring about my grades. even though, like, some people get to college and then they say i've made it, like, i can slack off, or at least not put as much pressure on myself anymore. but i still strive to keep a high gpa, because i know that i am capable of those things, and that's what he would want and that's what i would want to teach my younger brothers or any other people who see this scholarship and want to know what it stands for. >> does it make you say, you know, i can't fail now? now i have this man's name, his legacy attached to my name? i have to do it for him, i have to do it for my family as well? >> that's the way i view it, just one more person that i know i want to live to my full potentials for, that i don't want to disappoint him, i don't want to disappoint berga. i don't want to disappoint anybody. because i know if i do fail, that that's not what i'm capable of. >> right. >> i'm capable of succeeding and achieving all of my goals. >> good points. tell us about this year's event,

berga. i was there last year. it's such a fun time in gilroy. it's such an amazing event. >> what we were looking for, besides the main component is really giving scholarships, but also, we want to make it a fun event where people really like it, look forward to coming back every year. and so, we want to make sure there is plenty of food, there is entertainment, and we have the young people involved. so, infertino has been very generous. actually, jose used to patrol in south county, when he was a young deputy, and he knew the fertino family since then. so it was a very natural outcome that we kind of partnered with fortino. >> it's fun. it's coming up this coming saturday over at the fortino winery. there is the number to call for

information and the website. if you can't attend, logon and make your donation to this wonderful event. it's a great place to listen to great live music, honor students while we're there, and a lot of movers and shakers from the silicon valley will be there as well. they're always there supporting the lieutenant santiago foundation. thanks so much for the work you're doing. congratulations. keep it up. >> thank you very much. coming up next on "comunidad del valle," our interview with

george lopez and carlos santana. stay with us. and now, here's what's happening in your comunidad en

que pasa. and our salute to those celebrating special birthdays. and here is our address for next week. support your bi-lingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us once again. we leave you now with george

lopez and carlos santana. they will be touring the country coming up this fall. we did this interview on cinco de mayo. we want to share it with you. buenos dias. with me today are the legendary carlos santana and the incomparable george lopez, who are on their own tour of their own. it's called "the divine raskals," and they're here with us on the nbc bay area. i guess george, you're going to make them laugh, and carlos, you're going to make them cry. cry because, you know, when you listen to your guitar and the strings, you're tucking at our hearts. >> how do you make your guitar -- let me ask you something, how do you make your guitar sound so it's uniquely your sound, no matter where you go in the world? when he hits a note, you know that it's him. one note. how did that happen? >> i feel really grateful to god, but i did listen a lot to specifically to three ladies, mahelia jackson, aretha franklin and dionne warwick. >> boy.

you talk about legends right there. george, talk about your skit first, if you will. your job is to make them laugh and to make sure that they're in the mood for when your performance ends and then carlos comes on. >> well, they will be in the mood. what we came across organically, two weekends ago in san francisco, i went to see carlos perform at the hard rock. he did 70 shows there in two years. i can't believe the two years are over. is -- before the show, i went to see him. he said, hey, will you illuminate us? will you perform in the middle? i said, yeah, absolutely, okay. so, in the middle of the show, he brings me out, did about ten minutes, pretty wild stuff in between. audience all receptive into his music, into my comedy. so, what we decided from that is since he's already going to be set up on stage, is that there would be a little music and then i would come out and do my hour, and then i would introduce carlos and his band and he would take it to the next level. so, it's a cohesive show. it's not one guy, then the stage

goes dark and then the next guy comes out. it's as we are in our friendship, it's together. >> very nice. and it's september 24th at the amphitheater in mountain view. then at the 25th at the sleep train pavilion in the city of concord. carlos, if you will -- >> we expect there to be as many people outside having barbecues and kids running around and people drinking out in the parking lot as there are inside enjoying the show and doing all of those same things. >> carlos and george, i've seen both of you perform at shoreline, and it seems that when i'm there, it smells like college, you know? i leave that place high and i don't even smoke. do you think there will be some of that medicine out in the audience? >> thank you for calling it that. there's drugs and there's medicine. humans make drugs, mother nature makes medicine. so thank you for calling it that. >> and i heard you earlier, carlos, say that we as humans are weapons of mass compassion. >> yes. we are at that place now where

with everything that is happening with katrina and christchurch and haiti, and now japan, all of us are becoming, are arriving. people are on a journey, but we're arriving at understanding that there should only be one army in this whole planet, and that army should not defend, protect and attack anymore. this army should only feed, heal and bury, you know? because we're all in it together, and we don't leave anybody out. and we're all -- we're reaching a place where we're realizing for the first time that even words like patriotic can be extremely prehistoric. you know, we are one sim bionic, like woodstock, we are one people in this planet. and just like when we rejoice, when the berlin wall came down, when mandela was freed, when barack obama won, we're finally reaching that place where we see that love is the only thing that we need to concentrate.

we spend too much money, energy and time with fear. and so, we're learning to -- we're learning in a very gracious way that we are each other's keeper at this point, and the more we spend more money to educate instead of incarcerate, then we will arrive at being what we're supposed to be in this planet. >> george, that's deep. >> that's deep. i'm ready for all that. my candle bill has gone up considerably in my time that i've been so close to carlos. i've gotten more candles, more scents, incense burning, and i've gotten rid of the febreze and i've gotten into the incense. >> it's smelling already. carlos, if you will, four decades of entertaining the entire world. you have people who remember you from woodstock, those of us who heard of woodstock. and then you have the justin bieber fans who know who carlos santana is.

you started your next album here called "guitar heaven." probably going to be another top ten hit. that makes it five different decades of a top ten hit. what is it? how do you do it? how do you keep going? how do you entertain multigenerational fans? >> well, first of all, you know, i do believe in a supreme being and i believe that grace is a flow in itself, you know? a while ago, i heard for the first time on tv that i heard someone called the intangibles, collective willingness, which is like steve young brought that word. and now we're seeing a lot of -- a different vocabulary that used to be mumbo jumbo becoming practical. so, we're learning to see that -- check it out -- only those who see the invisible can do the impossible. that's not so far out anymore. it means that each person is significant and meaningful. and to answer your question, i'm just very really grateful that i've been around people like

bill graham, johnny hooker, george lopez, miles davis, who have been my teachers, and harry belafonte. i have great, great teachers, you know? and eduardo almos, who carried themselves with this incredible grace and dignity. and i can do no less but keep up. >> and sitting next to him, george, are you going to be a little more serious now? because these are deep, profound thoughts. >> no, absolutely not. no, absolutely not. there's no one that's more well-rounded and more worldly than carlos santana. that is the dynamic of our relationship. one of love, one of respect, and also, there's a mutual sense of humor between us. nobody knows, this dude is the biggest rodney dangerfield fan in the whole world, in the whol world. so, he's got it all. he feeds himself through the words and through the laughter, and that's, ultimately, damian,

what's really most important. when you tell jokes and you're making people laugh, that's what you're doing, you're creating from your mind and recollecting things that happened to somebody that happens to everybody. that's the beauty of it. >> well, happy cinco de mayo to both of you. >> gracias! >> you can find the divine rascals on tour everywhere. >> peace. >> gracias. ♪ ♪