Today, the death toll in maui continues to climb in the wake of the devastating wildfires. At least 111 people are now confirmed dead and hundreds more are still unaccounted for. Now native hawaiians are speaking out, demanding the Recovery Process will amir really the inequities ameliorate the inequities that took root for generations. Also, a new chapter californias housing crisis with Homeowners Insurance getting harder to come by, analysts say house costs co for those looking to own. But first, and Alarming Health headline an Alarming Health headline. Cancers are being more in the u. S. Joining us now is ucsf Infectious Diseases specialist dr. Peter chin hong. Thanks for joining us. Which population is the risk seemingly growing in . Looking between the years 2010 and 2019, the biggest increase in cancer is in a surprising population, that is between the ages of 30 and 39, like you mentioned, more in women, and specific c implicated, and when you look at ethnic groups, it seems to be predominantly more in those of asian descent and latinx. Kristen can we pinpoint any reasons for this . Nobody really knows for sure. This was a wakeup call and a little bit of a surprise. Some reasons people have talked about include the increase in obesity in the population, increase in alcohol use, smoking rates have been going down but it is still prevalent, more people are sedentary. Some environmental factors, even pollution, there could be an implication linked to global warming, climate change. Other toxic chemicals in the environment. Kristen any particular types seeing the more dramatic increases . They are primarily in three main groups, gi cancers, gastrointestinal, colon cancer increasing particularly in individuals younger than 50, and 50 was the traditional age group for colon cancer screening, the second group is breast cancer, that is probably explaining why the increase was particularly seen among women, and the third group is endocrine cancers, thyroid, etc. Kristen this is happening during a time when the figures for Older Americans were down, or stable. The big picture is most cancers occur in those over 65 in the u. S. And theres been a lot of progress in cancer, new biologics that have really revolutionized cancer care. But overall, cancer is going down. If you look at the big picture, you are kind of missing the forest for the trees because in these age groups that are not really been well studied, the rate is increasing. Kristen i guess we are going to need more information. In the meantime, what do you think is the solution or action point based on these numbers . The first thing of course is to do all we can to risk factors that we can control. Like smoking or diet, eating more fiber, in terms of colon cancer. And of course trying to control weight as much as possible. Obesity is linked to so many malignancies. The exact relationship is not really wellestablished. Kristen i want to talk about the weight loss drugs which are so in demand right now, this new class which includes ozempic. There was an article in which the writer says, we dont really know how they work. That surprised me. Dont we . We dont know how they work . We know how they work, in terms of a mechanism to control diabetes, which they were evolved for originally. As an outcome, they noticed people started losing weight. When they probed into that more, people were losing weight because they were not feeling that hungry anymore. People dont understand why it is leading to appetite suppression. I think it is designed based on this protein called glp which helps control how much glucose you have in your body by regulating insulin. But in terms of affecting you willingness to eat or appetite, that has to be something in the brain. About why it results and profound weight loss. Kristen is it good enough that we like the results or are there things we should think about . It was controversial and that is becoming a little bit less controversial because i think at the end of the day there was a recent study showing that drugs like those and pick reduce cardiac risk. Just like gastric passenger or gastric banding, is the risk worth it . For some people, you know, reducing cardiac risk because of obesity might be worth it while we try to figure it out. Some people are nervous because it may have unintended consequences we dont fully understand right yet. That is the debate right now in the field. At the end of the day, we need to continue to do the research and figure out, is it really worth pursuing . Kristen especially be is something you would have to take indefinitely, not take it once. Lets talk about covid. It looks like hospitalizations seem to be on the upswing in many states. Can you tell us where they are . How alarming these numbers are to you . The main focus of covid increase in hospitalizations right now is in the southeast in particular. They are higher than they were in the last five months but nothing compares to where we were in the decemberjanuary omicron surge. We are watching it is something we are watching very closely. In many areas, rates kept higher than they would normally. Many think it will come back down again before we go back up again late fall early winter. Im hoping that is what is happening. In the big picture, increase in hospitalizations, some increase in pediatric hospitalizations as well in the southeast. But again, small compared to where we were in the winter. Kristen the new booster is due out this fall very soon. At this point, who do you think should get it . I dont think im even talking to my elderly parents about getting it at this time. When its introduced the fall, the new covid vaccine, i think for sure those who should get it would be those who are older than 65 and immunocompromised. Timing is going to be an important issue just like with the flu shot. If you want to get it too soon its kind of like the stock market. You want a time when the surge is going to be. To time when the is going to be. It will be dependent on when we think that surge in the winter is going to happen. Kristen i always lose when i try to time the stock market. Maybe i will just do it on a schedule, my parents as well. Thank you so much. Coming up next, helping heal and come back stronger after those deadly wildfires. A native hawaiian activists will join us to talk about his call to action for all of us in helping hawaii. Well well well, what have we here . A magical place. Thats lookin to get scared with bats. And ghouls. And cars in disguise. Ive cast quite a spell now. You wont believe your eyes [laughter] the spell is cast. Halloween time is back with spooktacular experiences in disneyland and disney california Adventure Parks [laughter] kristen hawaii Officials Say they have searched 40 of the scorched area around lahaina. The death toll stands at 111. Hundreds more people are still missing. Even as President Biden plans to visit next weekend promises to stand with the local people for as long as it takes, many activists are questioning the governments commitment or approach. A former state represented of an hawaiian indigenous leader in this tweet says colonial greed is burning down our home, and its u. S. Politicians and polluters to blame. The oped appears magazine today. He joins us now with a call to action. Thanks for your time. Our deepest condolences. I know you are generation on maui. This is heartbreaking. Are you there right now . We are here right now. We are helping folks on the ground, talking to the talking to survivors, filling in the gaps. I think we all lost friends, family and loved ones. Just trying our best to heal and grieve, also understanding the time to act is now. Kristen please dont apologize. I understand. I want to address what you put in the tweet. You mentioned colonial greed. Can you explain . How they are interconnected . The first matter of fact, not really opinion, is that this was caused by high winds, dry vegetation and low humidity, those are all functions of climate change. Climate change is caused by carbon pollution, a blanket above us that overheats the planet. And if it wasnt for that, the flames would not have moved as quickly, it wouldnt have been as hot. Warmer air is faster air. Secondly, lahaina wasnt always drive. It was a lush wetland, it was the birthing place of aqua culture. You can have a boat and float it around the Famous Church where our kings and queens are buried. At the turn of t century, they diverted the water to irrigate the crops on the land they still. When i say colonial greed, thats what i mean. Theres been an ongoing fight for water between the people and these legacy corporations that still hold the names of the general big five oligarchs the biggest landowner and political contributor in our state. Kristen so sugar made the land drive. Now the main industry is tourism. Does tourism contribute to hawaiis vulnerabilities . The last time we had a Massive Media spade was when there was a drought called for the island of maui. They were fining people 500 for watering their lawn. In the meantime, the hotels were operating business as usual with pools all the way full. The tale of two hawaiis is apparent. Descendants are executives in the Tourism Industry today. Kristen can i ask you how things can be made more right Going Forward . First of all, in terms of preserving local heritage and interest. How can that be done in the Recovery Process . Are you seeing it thus far . Its been really its been incredible. Its something to behold, seeing our Community Come together. We are in island. We always have each others backs. We have to in order to survive. Rural communities especially like lahaina, the only time they got attention from the government is when you are talking about the military or tourism. They are used for taking care of we are used to taking care of our own. In such a profound way right now, you have people sending up Community Hubs and shelters, cutting people food and water. Anything they need. Getting people food and water. Anything they need. Even before fema and the state were able to do it. What we are seeing now is lend grabbers come in just hovering above the wreckage like vultures. People are getting calls will have just lost their homes to sell who have just lost their homes to sell. When it to make sure that we are getting people the relief they need now. Not incentivize them to take those offers. As we help people through insurance claims and fema applications, that we are doing it neighbor to neighbor. So when its time to rebuild, we are doing construction together at the school, the next day, we are planning on her own development and having developers respond to us rather than the other way around. Kristen i can understand a lot of the locals fears about losing their homes. I saw some stunning figures. How much is the average home in maui . How much does the average person or family make . Yeah. Thats the most alarming thing. In most highcost geographies like San Francisco, theres also high wages to match. The top three cities also have among the top three average incomes. In terms of the cost of income. We are ranked in honolulu around 78 for income. On par with oklahoma city, even though we are in the top five for costs. The houses are around 1. 3 million on average here. In terms of the demand, its mostly outofstate demand. Last year, under 40 of sales went to local people. Its just like any other place. San franciscos probably more expensive. But there is no suburb here. You cant just move out east in hawaii. You are either oceanfront or oceanview here. Families have to move away at least 3000 miles to a completely different culture. The context here is a little bit different. Its a little bit more pronounced here. Kristen President Biden is coming next week. What would you like him and the federal government to do, keeping in mind some of these issues and inequities you brought up . The federal response has actually been as swift as i would like to see it. Had fema dispatch as quickly as possible. No one was prepared for this degree of fire on a topical island on a tropical island. We only have so many firefighters, first responders. Governor newsom and other officials were also ready to help. The direct response has been good. Whats needed on the level is to accelerate the transition to clean energy because ultimately if we dont, this is going to keep happening more and more. The urgency that we face right now is no longer i do claimant work i do climate pretty much fulltime. At any day, you can wake up tomorrow morning in your neighborhood could be flattened your church, your school, the Grocery Store could be reduced to ashes tomorrow, that is the urgency we need to be operating with. To do should declare a Climate Emergency as soon as possible, hopefully on monday, and commit to investing another trillion dollars a year, multiple inflation reduction acts during his second term. The stakes are too high at this point. Kristen thank you so much for joining us today. Up next, an crisis and soaring housing costs. It is a onetwo punch for people looking to become homeowners in california. More on what you need to know, when our media kristen facing a new crisis, Homeowners Insurance is getting more expensive and harder to get. State farm and allstate have stopped writing new policies in the state, citing wildfire risks. Now our media partner, the San Francisco standard, reports of those changes are likely to have another impact the hurdles to insurance will likely make buying a house even more expensive. Joining us to talk about this as a Senior Reporter for the San Francisco standard. Thanks for your time. Thank you for having me. Kristen whats going on with the insurance situation right now in california . Essentially we see major insurance providers of Home Insurance in california have stopped signing new business in the state or restricted the amount of new business they are going to sign. Some of the smaller ones have actually pulled out and are even not renewing the current policyholders they have. The reasons for this are multiple. One of them appears to be climate change, increased wildfires, damage. They will tell you that they want rate increases to be approved more easily and quicker. Their opponents and advocates for policyholders will say that the companies are still very profitable. But nonetheless, this attributes to their decision to sign less business or pull out. Kristen less competition often means increased prices. You looked at data compiled by realistic company compass. What did it show . Thier data shows their data shows between 2015 and 2021, the average premium for Fire Insurance in california for a homeowner more than doubled from below 600 to above 1200. That was even a bit before some of the things we are seeing in the Insurance Industry this past year or so started happening. What we are seeing now is, as it becomes harder to get insurance, people have to shop around more, its a much more difficult process, that causes them stress. They dont always get maybe the best premium on insurance. If they cant find market insurance, they have to go to the california fair plan which by right to file insurance for their house, the issue with the fair plan is, not only is it pricier, but it covers less. In addition to that, you have to buy a wraparound policy to cover the other aspects of Homeowner Insurance and you may be have to have earthquake insurance, too. That is a much bigger cost. What that means is when you go to buy a house now, if you cant get insurance, you cant get a mortgage for it. If you have to go to the fair plan which is more expensive, you may actually find that your transaction is no longer viable for you because it is too expensive. Kristen its pushing affordability even more out of reach for a lot of people hoping to be homeowners. What can be done . Are there any initiatives or bills and the works that could address this . I dont think there is a solution right now. The California Department of insurance is working on this, working with industry to try to get insurers back and keep them and have them ensure homes even in places that have greater risk of fire. I think the issue is, right now, we dont know how this ends, because we dont even actually know how serious the issue is at the moment. When these companies stopped signing new business or if they pull out of california, usually they dont announce it. So we dont necessarily know until people are until policyholders are dropped or someone like myself finds out and reports it. Kristen we will have to keep watching this. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. We will take a short break. Youre making the most of every hour of your life. Except the hours that youre sleeping. So why do we leave so much Untapped Potential on the table . 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We will be here every weekday at 3 00 p. M. Answering questions with experts from around the bay area. Hurricane hilary is intensifying in the Pacific Ocean just southwest of mexico. We will mon tonight, a special edition of world news tonight from maui. Our first look from the water of a paradise lost. You can smell it in the air here, you can see it over my shoulder. The burned out buildings, the cars destroyed. A stark reminder here