Despite having no experience making movies, a San Diego veteran-turned-nurse created a dark comedy that's now winning awards.

The big picture: "Turmoil" tells the story of a homeless veteran who battles the traumas of war by joining a martial arts gym.

• The brainchild of Dante Trinidad, it uses real service members and veterans as its cast and crew, who were often prompted to improvise their way through scenes.

Driving the news: "Turmoil" won the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Monica Film Festival in March and was just picked for the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival in September.

Backstory: Trinidad deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a medic and has worked for the VA as a nurse for 13 years.

• He told Axios that he suffers from PTSD, and works daily with other veterans in the same boat.
• Trinidad decided he wanted to create a movie that would honor the struggle of veterans after a veteran from his martial arts gym took his own life.

There was no script. Instead, he put combat veterans, doctors and chaplains in scenes and told them, "Go, let's just do it."

• That gives the movie an authenticity you won't see in Hollywood, he said.

Case in point: The movie's military humor particularly shines through during a scene that centers around relieving yourself in a porta-potty, Trinidad said.

• "People would joke, 'Yeah, we get blown up, but at least you die having fun, taking a poop,'" he said. "You have to risk your life just to poop."

How it works: Trinidad started work on "Turmoil" three years ago. He gathered a three-person crew, all of them new to filmmaking.

• "Ignorance is bliss. If I'd known what I was up against, I wouldn't have done it," he said.

Trinidad didn't expect his film would reach such levels.

• When it was screened at the Fight Back Film Awards, he was surrounded by Oscar-winning directors and didn't expect much of the night beyond a few free brews.
• "I was drunk, just drinking my ale, and I was just happy to be there," he said. "All of a sudden I hear them call 'Turmoil' for best feature."

For Trinidad, the film's message is brutally honest.

• "Sometimes it's OK to be in pain, but you have to ask for help," he said. "You're not alone."

Access a veterans crisis line here or by dialing 988.

Where to watch it

Summer travelers have dozens of new flight options to choose from, as long as they're willing to pay up for a ticket.

Driving the news: Airlines are betting on San Diego even as rising fuel costs send airfare prices soaring.

• Seven new nonstop flights are rolling out: Santa Rosa, Oakland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh-Durham, Santa Barbara and Boston.
• That's on top of more international flights and the return of seasonal destinations like Glacier National Park.

💸 "Airlines are going to put their airplanes where they believe they'll make money," industry analyst Henry Harteveldt told Axios. "San Diego is one of those cities."

Between the lines: These expansions are data-driven and calculated, even more so with the higher cost of fuel, Harteveldt said.

• San Diego's perennial popularity for summer vacations and business travel, plus its military presence, factor into airlines' decisions, he said.
• Alaska and Southwest battling to lead the market is another reason behind the slew of new flights, Harteveldt said.

The big picture: Despite industry experts warning the Iran war could disrupt summer travel, demand is going strong.

• Airlines are confident that passengers will pay higher ticket prices, and still expect a record-setting season even with flight cuts.

The bottom line: "Clearly, there's a certain degree of resiliency in the San Diego market," Harteveldt said. "It appears consumers are willing to pay those prices."

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🏗️ The San Diego Community College District is assessing replacing the downtown Civic Center's aging Golden Hall event venue with an art museum, classrooms and potentially student housing. (Union-Tribune)

🤖 Point Loma High students designed a drone intended to help speed up water rescues by dispatching flotation devices to distressed swimmers. They're developing a working model for their senior project. (Times of San Diego)

🛣️ San Diego's updated street paving plan shows the city is directing more than half of 2026 projects to underserved communities and proactively repairing potholes in those neighborhoods. But limited funding has forced the city to lower its standards for overall street conditions. (KPBS)

🎇 Oceanside plans to start issuing $1,000 fines for illegal fireworks, pending final City Council approval in a few weeks. (U-T)

Tick bites are sending a record rate of people to the ER for this time of year, according to new CDC data.

Why it matters: "Tick season is here and these tiny biters can make you seriously sick," CDC epidemiologist Alison Hinckley said in a statement.

By the numbers: Across Western states, April saw 31 ER visits for tick bites per 100,000 total ER visits — up from 22 in April 2025, according to the CDC's Tick Bite Tracker.

• That's the highest for this time of year since 2017, per the CDC.

Tips to prevent tick bites

It's time to vote in Round 2 for San Diego's best merch!

• Sorry to Hob Nob, Stone Brewing, Tower Bar, KPBS, Flower Pot Cafe, Knotty Barrel, M-Theory and Pilgrimage of the Heart, which were knocked out in the first round.

We'll continue the battles all week until we crown a champion.

Take our poll here!