support. >> xfinity home help customers keep their home and everything in it more protected. from 24 seven live and recorded video to controlling the smart home devices. learn more at xfinity.com/xfinity home. >> tonight on kqed newsroom , we analyze the state of california's power grid after this week's intense heat wave, and discuss how we'll handle a warming climate. and we look at growing rates of suicide and how officials are addressing the problem in one of the most visited suicide locations in the world, the golden gate bridge. plus, we revisit one of our favorite sources of tranquility, mere words. in this week's something beautiful. coming to you from kqed headquarters in san francisco this friday, september 9th,

2022. hello, and welcome to kqed newsroom. i'm priya david clements. this week, california endured a record-breaking heat wave. downtown sacramento reached 160 degrees on tuesday, the highest temperature there in 97 years. these rising temperatures have fueled concerns not only about fire danger, but about the condition of the state's power grid. the good news is, we were able to avoid major power outages thanks to californians conserving electricity. joining us now to discuss what happened and what's to come is kqed's transportation and infrastructure editor, dan brekke. dan, thanks for joining us. >> hey, thanks for having me. >> so how close were we this week to blackouts? >> we were very, very close, according to the california independent system operator, which is the agency that runs our grid. on tuesday night, which was the tail end of a historically hot day, with record temperatures, all-time record temperatures, right? the comedy thermometer had never gotten so high in santa

rosa and san jose, for instance, so there was gigantic power demand, and it all came to a head after 4:00. there was a flex alert in place for people to really start conserving seriously around 4:00, and by 6:00, things were not looking good. the independent system operator was running out of reserve power, and at that moment, about 10 minutes to 6:00, the governor's office, through the california office of emergency services, sent out a text, wireless emergency alert, to 27 million californians, and actually, there was a perceptible drop within minutes in demand, and that sort of pulled the whole grid back from the edge, and the necessity of rotating power outages, or rolling blackouts, as they're called it >> so californians really stepped up and said, okay, we're going to do our part here. help us understand the infrastructure right now in california when it comes to electricity. at a very high level, what do we have, and how do we

distribute it? >> it's a real mix. the comedy, part of the infrastructure i think we talk most about is renewable energy. california has invested huge amounts of money and encourage private industry to do the same in solar power and wind power. but it's a complex mix of solar, other renewables, along with natural gas, which is a major source, probably the biggest single source of, of power, natural gas power, fire plants, natural gas-fired power plants, imports from other states, hydroelectricity. and so it's, it's a dance being managed by this independent agency to try to make all that work. >> all right. and do we have a pretty robust system for, for our weather patterns in the past, but we're seeing that we're pressing up against the limits now and we

need to change things for the future? >> well, you know, here's the issue, is that we are in a transition. and if you talk to anybody, any of the independent energy experts like seven bornstein at úthe university of california berkeley, you hear what the governor says, you talk to the independent system operator, we are in a transitional period where we're sifting very strongly to these renewable sources. solar, mainly, and also wind. and that builds in a very vulnerable time of day every time we have extreme heat. and that vulnerable time of day is late in the afternoon. this time of year, the solar starts to go down at 4:00, and -- >> because the sun is not out as much anymore, right? >> exactly. it's going down, and we have soaring energy demand at the same time, at that point of the day. so it's really a question of, you know, the robustness of the system, is trying to get through that time of day. and that's where these flex alert -- we are on our 10th

straight day of flex alert for conversation. that's where that comes in, where energy conservation is being strongly encouraged right at that point of the day. >> but what about storing some of that solar energy? >> that's always been a big issue, and the state has invested in, again, private industry has invested in major battery resources. so most of this is in the form of four our batteries, they're called, and the capacity of that, the availability of that power, is, is much, much higher than it was just a few years ago. so perhaps just two years ago, there was enough battery power to maybe power 175,000 homes in that 4:00 to 8:00 period. now we're back up to battery power for 3 million homes, and that played a crucial role in getting us through this week. >> let's turn to another form of energy that many californians have concerns about. this is nuclear power. so the new administration has just decided to keep the diablo canyon powerplant online, even though it was slated for

closure, because of concerns that we might not have enough electricity otherwise. is there a renewed interest in nuclear? do you think that we will be seeing increase investment in nuclear power plants in the future? >> well, i think there are a couple parts to this answer. one is that the state, because of this transition period, we were just talking about, toward renewables, realizes that, perhaps, it really needs the power that diablo canyon provides. even though there are safety concerns. remember, one of the concerns about this plant is it's very close to an earthquake fault that could generate a powerful earthquake. it's an old plant at this point, and nuclear plants do not have an indefinite shelflife. the other part of this is, what are we going to do for energy in a time of climate change when we need to get away from carbon? and nuclear could be an answer to that. so there's people who say the technology is safer than it use to be, and it's worth the

gamble to, to go there. i don't think we're at the stage yet here in california where that kind of policy decision has been made. it's very expensive proposition, but that's something that we're going to hear a lot about in the, in the years to come. >> and that's being considered just briefly in germany. >> it is being considered in germany, which is a historically anti-nuclear, you know, population, because of, ú concerns going back to the 1970s and '80s. >> all right. dan brekke, our transportation and infrastructure editor. thank you so much for being with us today. >> you're welcome. >> we're turning now to a subject often hidden in darkness. suicide. this topic may be difficult for some of you, and we want to encourage you to reach out to the suicide prevention lifeline by calling or texting 988 if you would like help. suicide rates in america have increased dramatically, growing by 30% over the last two decades. i'd like to take a moment to

share that this subject is personal to me. i found myself very depressed for a time as a young woman in college, and i attempt at suicide by taking pills. i was lucky to get help, and i recovered with support from family and friends. today, i'm healthy, and so glad that my attempt failed. my next guest this evening has also had a personal experience with depression and suicidal thoughts. stacy torres is a sociology professor from ucsf who recently wrote an op-ed entitled, no, i'm not fine, and neither are millions of americans, about the need for more funding for suicide prevention efforts. stacy joins us now by skype from new york, where she's traveling. stacy, thank you for joining us. as i mentioned a moment ago, you struggled with suicidal thoughts for many years. would you tell us about your experiences? >> thank you so much. yes, like you, when i was a young woman in college, i also struggled with feelings of hopelessness and depression and

isolation, and eventually, those feelings turned into ideas about suicide, and how that might be an escape from the mental pain i was experiencing at the time. >> and how did you get help? how did you move through that time? >> well, it was very difficult. i had a lot of family responsibilities following the death of my mother, and so i was caregiving for my three younger sisters, and i was a commuter student in college. and so i didn't really have a wide social circle. and so the person that i was able to confide in and really broke the skin for me was a dear college professor who had also had her own bouts with mental health issues when she was a younger woman, and had it not been for her intervention, i, i really don't know what would have happened, but i know that i was getting increasingly desperate, and she really provided instrumental support for me.

>> having that person to talk to can be so key. your op-ed discusses how suicide is on the rise in america, especially through the pandemic, and, in fact, this week, we've been talking about the suicide of the cfo of bed bath and beyond, who jumped to his death from his high-rise apartment in manhattan last friday. could you out for us the reasons for the increase? from your sociological perspective? >> of course. so in my research, i've focused on social isolation and the need for community connections among older adults who have some of the highest suicide rate and so, of course, understandably, during the pandemic, becoming isolated has, has increased for many groups of people, younger people, older people, across the age spectrum. and so it's, it's been extremely challenging to maintain social connections, and reach out to people when you are feeling desperate. and during this time, as well.

so there's a surging need for mental health services, and there's also growing burnout among mental health workers and understaffing issues, too. so that also creates this perfect storm, where even if you feel comfortable in approaching someone for help, help may not always be so readily available. >> and it looks like, from the numbers, older white men are the most likely group to commit suicide. úbut young people are another demographic with high suicide rates. i mean, in fact, we're talking about, for some groups of young people, it's the second leading cause of death after accidents. so tell us about the factors triggering suicide in these groups. >> yeah, so for younger people, they're rates have been increasing, and they actually have among the highest rates of visits to emergency departments for self-harm. so this is definitely a trend that is not going in the right

direction. and in terms of risk factor, so isolation is one, but within younger age groups, for instance, there are also disparities. and so people who identified as sexual and gender minorities have higher rates of self-harm and ideation and suicide rates. at least that's what some of the limited data so far are telling us. alaska native and american indian racial and ethnic groups, across the board, also have higher rates. and living in rural areas is also a challenge for people to get services, and that's across different age groups, but among younger people as well, in terms of services that are available or not available, you know? you just have these wide, vast stretches of open land where it's not always so easy to make those connections. that can interrupt a suicidal process in motion.

>> yeah, and, you know, in the past, suicide has really been seen as a personal problem, one that families should be dealing with, but not necessarily something the government should get involved with. but that has definitely changed over the years, and there's more public money now going into prevention work. you argue that we definitely need even more public investment. >> absolutely. absolutely. so mental health services have been chronically underfunded, and they are not covered to the same extent as a physical health problem. so that's definitely one huge challenge. another challenge is just, yeah, chronic underfunding, and many of our public health systems, and especially mental health. and so for instance, in the op- ed i wrote, i talk about the rollout of this 988 number, and so the national suicide prevention hotline transitioned to a 988 number, which is wonderful, because it increases the accessibility of the number for people who don't have to strain to remember, you know, a longer digit number to get help. but the challenge is that they

can't keep up with the calls, and, in fact, there was a news report recently about los angeles call center, which is one of the nation's largest, if not the largest, and they have already a 50% increase in costs since the rollout of 988. but having the staff, and then the aftercare services, to meet the need, is going to take more funding. >> this week, and this month, there will be marches and rallies and people really working to build suicide awareness, prevention awareness. and i think it's important to note that the research has shown that talking about suicide doesn't increase the risk of suicide, because for a long time, there's been concerns that talking about the problem could the give the idea, and then do more harm than good. for what's coming up this month, would you tell us about the importance of highlighting this issue and bringing it to the forefront? >> we are absolutely right. talking about suicide, broaching this topic, will not incite or compel somebody to

commit, to die by suicide. in fact, it gives them an opportunity to get that intervening help that may prevent them from following through. and in terms of carrying out some of the ideas in there i had and turning them into a plan. so i think, sort of, one person who has experienced this kind of buildup of feelings in their past, talking to somebody right now who may be concerned about a family member, a friend, a child, a parent, et cetera, i know that these difficult discussions are, are difficult to have, but they are so important, and please do not fear that you are going to make the problem worse. you're only giving somebod an opportunity to talk about something that they may not have had so far. >> stacy torres with ucsf. thank you. >> thank you. let's talk now about the most significant destination

for suicide in the world. sadly, it's right here in our backyard. people come from around the nation, in fact, they travel from all over the world, to end their lives at the golden gate bridge. the first suicide is believed to have occurred at the bridge just weeks after it opened in 1937 emma when a world war i veteran leapt off the side. since then, records indicate there have been more than 1800 known suicides from the golden gate bridge. in recent years, there have been about two to three suicides every month. bridge engineers have designed an innovative stainless steel mesh net to deter people from jumping. the net is currently being installed, and is expected to be completed next year. joining us now are two people who have been very involved in this effort, manual gamboa lost his 16-year-old son kyle to suicide at the golden gate bridge. he's been an advocate for suicide prevention at the bridge ever since. and dennis mulligan is the

general manager and ceo of the golden gate bridge highway and transportation diskett. i have one more disclosure tonight for our audience. i is to work for the golden úga public affairs director, so i am very familiar with both of our guests, the problem, and the net. manual and dennis, thank you both for being here today. appreciated. >> thank you, priya. >> so, manual, let's start with you. can you tell us about your son, kyle, and the day that he went to the bridge? >> yeah, that was september 20th, 2020. this month will be nine years. we didn't know his -- what his intentions were. he was supposed to be going to school. well, he ended up at the bridge, and the highway patrol marked it at lamppost 77, and 11:45, that he had jumped over the bridge rail at the golden gate bridge rail, and died. as far as that goes, we got

messaged probably about a few hours later through sacramento chaplains, and then they gave us information to talk to marine county on our son passing away. >> have you had any indication that he was depressed, that he was contemplating suicide? >> none. >> oh. >> he wasn't mentally diagnosed. he didn't show no, none. what you just said, what you just asked me? matter-of-fact, he was an outgoing, happy teenager, getting ready to graduate from high school. he, we were just a couple months into his senior year. i always say, if he wasn't the most popular kid in his class, the group, you know? he got his license first. he was able to drive, and just, the cool kid, and so he was very athletic, you know?

starter, mvp of his basketball team. baseball, you know, not a starter, but player, a soccer player, and so there was no indication whatsoever. >> since that happened nine years ago, you and/or your wife have been at every single golden gate bridge board meeting advocating for the net. tell us about why this net has been so important to you. >> to save lives. to have people, loved ones, relatives, not go through the pain and not go through the hurt or the unknown of somebody going there and taking the life. or having a bad day, and, you know, taking their life. it's, it's, it's, that has always been our main message, is to, let's, let's make this a safe place.

if there's something going on that's wrong here, well, let's make it right. and i, i did, at the end, on our first meeting, say, i will be here at every meeting if i have to just to remind you and to introduce you to my son, and just to get this going. >> yeah. dennis, i feel like it has definitely been the work of advocates over the decades that has helped move this along, to the point where the golden gate bridge is now installing a suicide deterrent. could you talk to us about the work of advocates, the importance of that work, and, and how public opinion needed to shift? >> sure. i strongly believe we would not be constructing the net today but for the advocates. early on, the advocates reached out, they started meeting with policymakers and sharing with them the importance of this project. another thing happened during this time period, and that is our perceptions of suicide, and our willingness to talk as a

community about mental health have changed. and so, you know, 20 years ago, people didn't talk about mental health like we do today. but, you know, suicide is on the uptick, and so our board of directors reflects a broader community. there was, i think, a fundamental shift. they realize, this is a problem we can fix. we, as a community, have a duty to everybody to help them get through those tough days so they can go live a long and productive life. and so the advocates spent the time, they spent the effort, and like any big project, that's vital, and that makes it happen. >> and tell us about the design itself. this kind of almost invisible net that is going to be running the length of the bridge on both sides, and how this design was chosen. >> sure. you know, we had to do an environmental process, this is california, so there's lots of environmental process. so we had lots of public outreach, we developed a whole suite of different alternatives, and we solicited public feedback on it, and we

received lots of comments. and this is one of those topics with 50% of the comments were in favor of it, and 50% of them said, how dare you do this? >> because the bridge is such an icon. it's a landmark >> exactly. how dare you tarnish my bridge? everyone says this is the bridge. and so the net is a great solution. it will be located, being located down about 20 people of the sidewalk, it extends out about 23 feet, and its marine grade stainless steel wire rope netting with border cables taught between support arms. and where nets have been erected, they've been almost 100% effective. >> okay. janet, what you think as you see this not being built? >> a great thing. a good thing. in all the positive there is to say about this net. like i said, i believe that they day, if kyle would have seen this net there, it would've gave him the help that he needed. it would've -- i just learned this word today. it would've interrupted his day. it would've stopped what he was doing, and he would've carried on. you know, i don't want to

go any further with that, because i don't know what would've happened to him, but i know that he would not have passed away at that golden gate bridge that day if this net was there or something else was there. but knowing now that they had this planned, if that was there, it would've saved his life. so now that's the message in the future, it's going to save lives. it's going to prevent a lot of people, like i say, feel the way i feel, so it's a positive thing. >> so, dennis, the net isn't 100% effective, or at least, it's not supposed to be 100% effective. it would be great if it is. what happens when people come, if they choose to jump into the net? and continue to try to get off the side? >> so at most locations nets have been constructed, no one even jumped into it once, but this is california, this is the bay area, so we anticipate we will have someone jump into it. there's one location where this happened. and so we're working with first responders nearby. so our board of directors last month authorized spending money to modify the southern marin fire department's training

facility to put a piece of handrail in, and then below that, a piece of that. so southern marin fire, san francisco fire, and other first responder agencies can go out on the net and rescue somebody. and these are the same people that do these rope rescues on the cliffs today when hikers get in trouble. and so they have expertise, but they'll be able to train on a replica facility, so if and when something happens, they will be able to take care of that person. >> okay. and the net is expected to be completed next year, 2023? manuel, what do you think it'll mean for you when you're able to logic out onto the sidewalk and know that the net is complete? >> well, you pretty much to quote from when they did the vote to get the funding and get going with this. i wasn't really happy. i walked out, and a reporter came to me and said, how do you feel about this, how do you feel? and i said, you know what? until i can be at the lamppost 77 and look over to where possibly my son would've looked

over and carried on with his life, hopefully, when i can do that and see that, then i will be happy and, and, you know, and -- it'll be a soothing feeling, you know? i can't have my son back, but we can save lives and make that bridge a safer place, and, you know, like, we're talking about, this is an iconic bridge. it's seen everywhere, and unfortunately, it's one of the major suicide destinations right now. >> and hopefully that will end. manuel, i'm sorry for your loss. enqueue for your time, and for sharing. dennis, thank you so much for coming in and sharing with the golden gate bridge district is doing about the problem with suicide there. i appreciate it. >> thank you, priya. >> thank you. tonight, we'd like to share with you one of our favorite something beautiful's.

take a lock with us through towering old-growth what would's in muir woods. the national park, which is home to trees that are hundreds of feet tall and hundreds of years old was named after california naturalist john muir. president theodore roosevelt in 1908.

>> you know, i took a walk there this week, and not only is it a cathedral of peace, it is also blessedly cool on that forest floor. that's the end of our show for tonight. you can find kqed newsroom online or on twitter , or you can email us at anr at kqed.org , and you can reach me on social media at priya d clemens. thank you for joining us. we'll see you right back here next friday night. have a great weekend.

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