I am Maureen Cavanaugh, Tuesday, February 16. Here are some of the San Diego service we are following your today is the last day to request a mail ballot for next week special election in Carlsbad. Request's will have to be in the registrar of office by 5 PM today. The boat will determine if they of dining and retail proposed near the lagoon. Z the median price of a home in San Diego County rose by 6.9% in January compared to the same month one year ago. While the number of home souls went up by 75%. California is still in a grip above record-setting heat wave. The he will continue through today before a low-pressure system starts cooling things stand and bringing a chance of rain. This in for the latest news through today on KPBS. C Midday Edition. Residents of Ciudad Juarez. Pope Francis ends his first visit to Mexico by celebrating mass from El Paso Texas. The people of Juárez dealed with years of violence from drug cartels. The city that Pope Francis will encounter is already emerging from that bloody error. Joining me is Lorne Matalon of terrorist reported in Martha public radio. Welcome to the program. Great to be with you Marlene. Morris was once infamous as the murder capital of the world. How has that changed? Is funny and obvious for the people. It is a in a state of two-hour. The general office released news within the last 48 hours, the uptake and take away is that 2015 is the lowest level up homicides of murders and Juárez. So it is spared to say statistically that killings in 2010 that they have come down since then. We are looking at a pretty high benchmark as there were so many killings, over 3000 in 2010. Which is when cartel war with government really crested. It has really come a long way. I should point out, just to the east, in the Morris Valley, there is bloodshed and land displaced being turned from their home to make way for him new infrastructure from Mexican energy reform. Violence in the general area within the city. We spoke with the San Diego priest yesterday, and he said he was concerned for his safety traveling to Juárez. As you say, it is no longer at the murders have gone down dramatically, but is Morris safe now? This is my standard stock answer. If you not involved in organized crime it is safe. If you avoid nighttime is perfectly safe. This opportunity which is being seen as an opportunity for Juárez to emerge in a very solid and concrete Kwai. It is being looked at as a chance for people to pray, and to the and call the city government has been asking people busy desk of business to pitch in and help out other citizens camping out on the street overnight. That would have been unthinkable in 2010. Businesses are now being asked, stay open for 24 hours because some people might need to go indoors for a break, or use a restaurant. The city is also asking homeowners to let them stand outside of their homes and offer blankets if needed. That type of request to a government to its citizens would have been impossible in 2010. To date seems we routine. This is not a protest, this is anything more than a chance for people to pray together. As the Pope has been saying to heal together. What type of security has the city prepared? That is a good question. Morris is closing off all of the streets within a five block radius where the Pope will be speaking or traveling to. That means for a 24 hour period, that is just about to start, no vehicles will be allowed near the Pope's route. The city government is encouraging residents and busy desk of business is to come onto those close streets meaning the city government of Morris wants his people to see the Pope even if it means walking for miles. There is ramped up security. An elephant -- element of security. The black and white fictions of danger starts when you cross the US border from New Mexico. You have said several times that this is a chance for the people of Juárez to pray. I am wondering what type of operations are they making to meet the Pope? One of the more poignancy's that I have seen firsthand is a life size copy per car out of the Pope, standing or being physically placed in front of the main Cathedral, our lady of Guadalupe they, it's a beautiful place. People are signing message books with messages. And some of the messages I have seen are focused on, please come here, and in essence to not let our government and leaders get away with anything. Please call them in on the narco trafficking and related violence. Please call them out on equality within Mexico. That is one of the activities that is taking place, as well as the added security, police, Mexican Army is there. Notwithstanding other security that is coming to bear on the scene, I think that you find people with a lot of smiles on their faces right now. I do not want to be too simplistic but it feels good right now aired now in your reporting on the Pope Francis was in Argentina, during that country's dirty war back in the 1970s and 1980s, a type of government crackdowns where people have disappeared. Pope Francis says he has regretted stopping the violence. Is there a connection between that personal history and the Pope urging Mexican Bishop's to denounce cartel? The simple answer, in my opinion, studying this in the South and Torrey Bishop by the Vatican for a long time, is absolutely yes. He has acknowledged that there was a key allegation against him. During the dirty war, when one -- running in Argentina, he pointed out left-leaning as left the priest exposed aired in a specific case he is excuse of not having to defend priests that were kidnapped or ask for their release. He has denied this, and says he protected those pieced and others but quietly in secret word I should point out that the Argentine courts ruled out three years ago that the Catholic Church is an institution of human rights abuse during this time. When he was the Archbishop of bonus errors, he said I regret not doing more for the victims. I believe there is no question that his admission of this dark past, his decision to go against church hierarchy and embrace a man who many accuse of being left leaning and liberation theology is, the movement within the Church that asks priest to actively campaign for social change, I think all these events are connected. And the genesis of his transformation started with his expense, in my opinion as a young priest in Argentina. And that Pat brings them to Juárez tomorrow. So Pope Francis in Juárez. We think that he will be speaking gal during his trip through Mexico, about corruption, drug cartels, violence. Can the church make a difference in the situation in Mexico? The church has been impressed by the Mexican government many times. In the 1920s, hundreds of church were killed by forces cause separation of church and state is unsettled is this inside Mexico. Why do I mention met? Abends -- against that backdrop his words will be listened to. At the higher up you go in the Mexican government, are somewhat wary of what he will say. But if you look at what he has done in Africa and what he said in Bolivia last year in July, there is a commonality. He wants to celebrate the poor, and rail in folks against structural inequality. Can his words affect change? I hate the change that time will tell, many Mexicans doubted. But they are pleased that he is a statesman as much as a religious leader. He talked about immigration, the big theme of his visit to Morris. I think that they are hoping his words will designate inside the house of power. He has already brought a change in the city of Juárez. I have been speak with Lorne Matalon copping to for your time. A pleasure to be with you Maureen.
Residents of Ciudad Juárez are preparing for a big day Wednesday when Pope Francis ends his first state visit to Mexico.
He will celebrate Mass in the border town, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
The people of Juárez have endured years of horrific violence from drug cartels vying for power. But the city the pope will encounter is emerging from that bloody era.
Lorne Matalon, Fronteras reporter for Marfa Public Radio, has been reporting on the pope's visit. He said killings crested last year and now are in decline.
"If you're not involved in organized crime, you're perfectly safe. If you avoid certain areas at night, you're perfectly safe," Matalon told KPBS Midday Edition Tuesday. "I think the black-and-white media depictions that danger starts the minute you cross the border is a bit of a hyperbole."
He said that preparations for the pope's visit point to a very different Juárez. The government is asking businesses to stay open, not just past sunset, but 24 hours a day to serve people visiting the city and camping in advance of his Mass.
"In 2010, that would have been a nonstarter," Matalon said.
Authorities in Juárez have been preparing for the big day by blocking traffic from streets surrounding the pope's route and adding extra police, Matalon said. But they're also urging residents to fill those streets to get a glimpse of the leader of the Catholic Church.
"Without being too simplistic, it feels really good there right now," Matalon said.
But he added Juárez residents are still struggling. Matalon described what they're writing in message books for the pope:
"Please come here and, in essence, don't let our government and leaders get away with anything. Please call them on the narco-trafficking and inequality," he said.
Read Matalon's report on the pope's visit here.
