S1: Hey , San Diego. It's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today , we take a closer look at some recent stories out of San Diego's South Bay. First National City is considering a new industrial biofuel depot , raising concerns from residents about increased pollution. We take a closer look at the debate around the project in a community that has long been impacted by pollutions effects.
S2: These are far reaching decisions , and they're far reaching because they have really personal implications for a lot of people.
S1: Then why Chula Vista is considering stricter rules for e-bikes. All that , plus the weekly roundup that's ahead on KPBS roundtable. In recent years , National City has made efforts to reduce the amount of industrial businesses in the city with the goal of improving air quality and with it residents health. But a new proposed biofuel depot in the city's raising concerns , and a community that's long sought to curb pollution after decades of environmental harms. I'm joined now by Corey Suzuki , who's reporting on this story for KPBS. He covers the South Bay and Imperial County for KPBS. Hey , Corey , welcome back to roundtable.
S2: Hey , Andrew , thanks for having me.
S1: So start out , can you tell us more about this proposed project in National City ? What is it and why is National City the proposed site for it ? Yeah.
S2: So the project is proposed by a Houston based company called USDA Clean Fuels. And what we're talking about is a large biofuel depot. It would be built along the railroad tracks on the west side of the city. And what it would essentially be is a place where you could have dozens of railcars coming in. Carrying these biofuels , transporting them into the city. And at this facility , they would be transferred. The fuel itself would be transferred to these heavy diesel trucks , um , diesel trucks that would take the fuel and kind of distribute it throughout the county to , to regional customers. So this would be sort of a regional distribution hub for this , this fuel that this company would be bringing in. And now biofuels themselves are kind of essentially it's a blanket term for cleaner replacements for petroleum based fuel. Um , that can mean fuels that are produced from , um , more sustainable materials or more renewable materials , like algae , um , like , uh , vegetable oil , um , like recycled restaurant grease. And on the whole , these types of fuels. Uh , according to the federal government , do produce less emissions , um , in total when it compared to , um , petroleum based products like diesel fuel , for example. Um. And this again , this this entire plant would be located in West National City , which is an industrial area. You know , it's close to the port. It's close to the railroad tracks. So the company is kind of making this argument that , um , this as a distribution hub would support California's climate goals , would , would , would allow regional distribution of this more , um , renewable fuel. Um , but at the same time , it would be bringing a lot of heavy equipment into this area. Um , these trucks , dozens of , of diesel trucks that have to transport the fuel , the , um , the train traffic that would be passing along the railroad. And that's kind of where some of these environmental concerns are coming into the picture.
S1: Got it. And you're reporting here , uh , introduces us to one longtime resident of National City's West Side , Margarita Garcia.
S2: She's a retired hairdresser. She used to live in the Los Angeles area , but she's now been a resident of West National City for 25 years , and Margarita has been pushing to end pollution in her neighborhood for almost as long. Around 20 years ago , she started working with the Environmental Health Coalition , which is a long time environmental justice organization based in parts of the South Bay and parts of San Diego County. And they have been pushing to sort of curb this , uh , growth of industrial , um , industrial businesses , industrial activity that has been a source of pollution in the neighborhood for for a really long time.
S1: And yeah , you say it's been happening for a long time. Can you talk about sort of the backstory there ? Uh , you know , how how did National City come to be this kind of , you know , place for , you know , such an industrial presence in the city ? Again , nearby residential homes as well , like Marguerita.
S2: Yeah , well , in National City , that story really comes down to zoning changes and to kind of the way that the city has been planned out. Um , you know , a long time ago , before the kind of the trucks in the , the industrial businesses , West National City , which is also known as Old Town , the neighborhood , um , was mostly single family homes , small single family homes. There were some markets , some churches. There was an elementary school. All of those things are still there. But what's changed over the years is that as the Port of San Diego took shape , um , the city began to the local officials in the city began to open up the west side of the city to small scale manufacturing. Um , the port also opened up a new marine cargo terminal in National City , kind of along the along the bay , which now processes , um , around a 10th of the cars that are coming into the United States imported into the United States. And , um , so that has led to those decisions , uh , both of the the growth of the port and the sit by city officials to kind of allow more industrial activity , um , to to loosen those , those rules and to allow more industrial activity in the area have led to all of these businesses , like auto body shops and kind of auto repair shops , metalworking businesses , warehouses that have moved into the area , set up shop. And so in West National City today , um , you have parts of it that are almost entirely industrial , very heavily , um , heavily focused on industrial activity. And then you have areas like where Margarita lives that are sort of homes and , um , industrial businesses side by side along with each other. When you drive down a block in her neighborhood , you can see , um , there are these businesses and these homes are just are just side by side. The neighborhood is kind of , um , they're very tangled together. And what that's meant for the neighborhood is that today , West National City sees more particulate matter , diesel particulate matter , which is a specific kind of pollution emitted by diesel trucks , then more than 90% of the state. So the , um , the neighborhood is really seeing these kind of very , um , physical effects of , of that activity.
S1: And specifically , you know , from , from Marguerita , she's seeing those effects in her home.
S2: That's been a big part of Margarita's , uh , focus on , um , trying to end pollution in her neighborhood. You know , her , her husband , um , when he was alive , uh , he used to say that the , um , industry treated the city like a dumping ground. And , um , what she has seen personally is , um , you know , there are small things like , uh , soot that gathers on the bars of her windows. Um , there's the air quality. She has an air quality monitor. Um , through her work with the Environmental Health Coalition. and she also has an air purifier that runs in her home , and they have to keep the windows closed because the air quality monitor. Um , she and her family say that it's often detecting toxic particles outside , and Margarita also personally has a heart condition that leads to an irregular heartbeat , which in the past has made her really tired. She's also survived an aneurysm , and researchers have drawn connections between those conditions to air pollution. So her family , um , directly attributes , uh , those specific illnesses that she lives with to the conditions that the those planning decisions in the neighborhood have have created.
S1: So back to this specific project. You touched on this earlier , but I think one irony here is just concerns around this project and its potential to increase pollution in that area. And yet it's a green energy project. Tell me more about why a green energy project like this may actually end up increasing pollution.
S2: Yeah , 100%. I think that's a really good point , Andrew. And this is sort of one example of a case where there are trade offs between some of these projects. In some ways , the company behind this project is making these big claims that this facility will support California's goals to clean the air , to reduce pollution , um , to to reduce climate warming emissions as , as we all need to be doing. And so these are I mean , these are some , some large targets. And it's true that California has a long way to go , and that the state has said that biofuels will play a role , um , especially now in these in these earlier years , um , in achieving those goals. At the same time , I think that what um , residents and what environmental groups like the Environmental Health Coalition are really pushing to remember , um , pushing , pushing , trying to push both the company and local officials to remember is that this is also a question of what this is going to do to the neighborhood and where you're locating these projects. And national city especially. I mean , on top of having these high pollution rates , the the city as a whole is one of the least wealthy is the least the least wealthy in San Diego County. It's also one of the most racially diverse places. Those two factors combined make it one of many places across the US where pollution is concentrated in communities of color and poorer neighborhoods. By these old planning decisions and ongoing decisions to and the state has recognized this. The state has considers West National City an environmental justice neighborhood. So this is really , I think , a question of in this specific case , what , um , how do you balance those two , um , those two sort of sides of this , uh , the kind of broader goal of reducing emissions , the kind of , um , need for more biofuels in California. And , um , also , you know , the need to , to protect people's health and the need to , to keep people safe , and especially in neighborhoods that are already dealing with higher levels of pollution and where this there's been sort of this ongoing effort to actually reduce that level of pollution , which this facility would not contribute to.
S1: So you've talked a little bit about this. This company used clean fuels out of Houston.
S2: This would be a good thing for San Diego County , for national city , in terms of this broader effort to , um , reduce dependence on petroleum based fuel. Um , they also make the argument that , you know , this depot would reduce the overall amount of distance that the fuel needs to travel just by having a regional distribution hub. And the company has also made this commitment to deliver , um , a specific , uh , community benefit fee to the city of $200,000 every year that the facility is operating , which , you know , I mean , it's National City is a small city. So that amount , I don't think is insignificant. It's also certainly not , you know , an amount that's going to that's going to transform the city's budget. Um , so I think there's kind of a question of of how much that's actually worth to residents. Um , city staff have suggested that that money could go to continuing to help , um , push more or press more industrial businesses to eventually move out of the area in the west side of the city. Um , they've suggested that it could go to programs like National City's free electric , uh , rideshare program , um , which is called Frank free free rides around National City. So there are different options on the table when it comes to that. And the company has said that they're they're committed to that amount of local funding for for city services. But I think , um , it's still up in the air right now whether or not those , um , that specific pledge , whether residents and whether local elected officials will see that as , uh , enough to offset sort of the potential risks to residents health.
S1: So in a draft analysis done by the city , the project was found to not be in line with National City's climate goals. I think it found you right. The project would omit something like the yearly equivalent of about 350 cars , yet the city still decided to move ahead with the project. Why ? Yeah.
S2: That's right. And I mean , just to be clear here , um , what has happened so far is that city staff have done it. This environmental analysis , they've been evaluating the project for some time. The company first announced its , um , its intentions publicly in 2023 , so this has been a long process. City staff have been evaluating the potential environmental impacts of the project , and what's happened so far is that staff members have said that they think that the planning commission , which is sort of the first city body that will take a look at this proposal and and make a recommendation. City staff have said that they think the planning Commission should move it forward , and should apply for the permits that the project needs and should improve , approve the environmental analysis. At the same time , there's still a number of decisions that the project will have to make it through. Um , you know , city staff are recommending that the planning commission will have to vote. The planning Commission's decision is a recommendation , and then the city council will weigh in. And , um , the city council is really the one that will have the final say on this project. So there are still a number of different stages to go. There are still a number of opportunities for residents to make their voices heard , and for other folks who are interested in the project or who have thoughts on the project to weigh in , but , um , we're really kind of early in the process in some ways. So this is going to be a , um , this is this has been an ongoing discussion , and it's going to continue to be an ongoing discussion , I think , in the in the coming months in National City.
S1: So with that , I mean , I want to bring it back to Margarita Garcia , this longtime , you know , National City resident you talk to. Um , how is she feeling about the future of not just this project , but the prospects of a cleaner future for her neighborhood ? Yeah.
S2: Margarita , you know , she wants she really just wants , um , neighbors that she gets along with. Um , uh , parks that that are have improved services. Um , streetlights that work. She she doesn't have specifically. I think she wants to see , um , the city continue to follow through on some of the pledges that it's made. I think she's really thinking about this in terms of these ongoing efforts that National City has taken to try and clean up pollution that you've mentioned. I mean , National City over the last in the in the decades since these planning decisions were made and since these industrial businesses became a presence in the city , national city has not just stood still. Local elected officials have tried to local residents have have tried to get the city to clean up pollution in the neighborhood. And local elected officials have taken decisive steps in that direction , too. And , um , what Margaret told me that has really stuck with me is that , um , she sees this as a moment where , um , they all have been working together to try and clean up the city for a long time , and that , uh , this project now , I think , um , she sees she would see it as a as a step backwards. So it's really going to be , I think , um , something that she's paying close attention to and to her is going to say something about where local elected officials , how local elected officials are thinking about those priorities right now , and whether they're still planning to stick to that pledge , at least in the short term.
S1: And finally , Corey , I was just , you know , curious what you take away from this. I mean , what is this one single local project here in National City ? What does it tell you about , you know , larger conversations around environmental justice ? We've talked about , you know , California's climate goals. How does that all. Yeah.
S2: It comes at a really fragile time for a lot of these different sort of larger goals that we're talking about in California. You know , California has set these these goals for electrification of cars and for of trucks and of other heavy equipment. And these are all , you know , in service of trying to clean the air , reduce some of the nation's most polluted air in the state , and to curb climate warming emissions , to try and slow the , um , the ongoing effects of climate change and slow our contributions to climate change. And under the Trump administration , since President Trump took office in January , the Trump administration has really taken steps to scale back some of those goals to to to reduce California's ability to to take those most ambitious steps. So I think that there's really a lot up in the air right now. There's a lot of uncertainty around what California can do without the ability to enforce some of these rules or these goals that they've set. There are a lot of organizations that have have lost funding for projects that were dedicated to environmental justice efforts under the new administration , as well projects that funding that was cut by the EPA. And so there is a lot , a lot about this moment and a lot of momentum here that I think is kind of is ongoing , but is also in a very uncertain place in terms of what happens next. To me , this project , you know , it was a conversation that began during the Biden administration long before the Trump administration. And it's a project that's going to have ramifications until long after the Trump administration has has left office. And so I think that to me , what this project is , is just another example of how these decisions that are happening at a very high level have very real effects on how people are living their lives across California. Across San Diego County , across South Bay and , um , that are going to really decide things like , you know , what the , um , what someone like Margarita can do during the day , whether she has to is able to keep her windows open or has to has to stay inside. Um , the kinds of diseases and conditions that people live with. It's , um , these are these are far reaching decisions and they're far reaching because they have really personal implications for a lot of people.
S1: Well , it's a great story , Corey. I mean , it's also interesting you cover not only South County , but you kind of covering similar stories on this issue in Imperial County as well , because they have their own struggles with environmental justice. And it's kind of interesting to see those dynamics there in those different communities you cover. I encourage everyone to go check out Cory Story on our website at KPBS. You can also see some of Cory's photographs , which are always a highlight of his reporting here. Cory , thanks so much for being here.
S2: Thank you so much , Andrew. It means a lot.
S1: When we come back. Chula Vista is considering new rules for e-bikes , plus what it's like to cover the many communities of San Diego's South Bay. That's ahead on roundtable. You're listening to KPBS roundtable , I'm Andrew Bracken. By now , you've probably seen a lot of kids popping wheelies on their e-bikes around your neighborhood. E-bikes have become a popular , environmentally friendly way of getting around town without depending on a car. But with a rise in riders also comes a rise in safety risks , particularly for kids. California has some rules in place for kids use of e-bikes , but some cities in San Diego County feel they're not enough. The latest city looking at stricter rules is Chula Vista. The Chula Vista City Council passed an ordinance last week with new regulations on who can ride e-bikes and where. Joining me to talk more about these rules is Crystal Niebla. She's the South Bay community reporter with eNews source. Crystal , welcome.
S3: Thank you for having me.
S1: So what does California state law currently say about kids riding e-bikes.
S3: So Tosha Berner , the assembly member who authored the bill uh , 2234. And basically she she authored a bill that says , hey , these e-bike injuries that are coming from specifically young children are getting out of hand. So let me write this legislation , get it signed by the governor. He signed it. And she noticed it specifically happening in North County cities. So she authored that. It's coming out as a pilot program. So this is going to sunset in January 2029. So these things include things like having a priority on education rollout. So things like , oh , instead of us being punitive with people on making these violations , We're going to try to have an educational campaign for people to ride a little safer. There's also suggested fine of $25. So that's all listed in the bill. And so what the San Diego cities are going to do is look at the bill , see how they can use that bill to write their own local version. Berner is saying that , hey , I'm writing this bill based off of what the national data shows , and that shows that a lot of the accidents that are happening in which e-bike riders , and it's not just limited to e-bikes , I want to be clear on that. It's like other types of like electric , like scooter. Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S1: Like those sort of like one wheel electric. Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S3: There's there's like these things that you can step on and then there's there on the side. They look like some Um. Futuristic.
S4: Futuristic. Things.
S3: Things. Um , but I think the e-bikes are the ones that are most visible and frequent. The kids that are , um , not allowed to use these e-bikes are under 12. Um , so something that council member Michael , who's um , for the city of Chula Vista saying that , um , no kids under a certain age like this young fourth or fifth grader should have any business like riding e-bikes , like they're too dangerous for them. And he's also saying that we should require the helmets need to be mandatory. That's another thing. Another regulation as part of the Chula Vista ordinance is saying that , um , no , no , people under the age of 18 can transport any passengers , um , on these , uh , electric vehicles.
S1: Can you talk more about why Chula Vista decided it wanted to make these rules stricter for kids.
S3: Council member was saying that he has a lot of schools in his district. He's saying that he's received a lot of complaints from his constituents , saying that , you know , there needs to be some type of regulation on kids writing e-bikes recklessly or , you know , um , some type of education for pedestrians and motorists. You know , because it's also not just all the responsibility on the riders of these electric micromobility vehicles , it's also the infrastructure built around that and how intersections can be dangerous. You know , even if you're an e-bike user or not , like if you're a pedestrian , if you're a driving a car , it's it's dangerous. So , um , this is just like a closer analysis on the e-bike usage.
S1: Chula Vista city officials they cited a study when. Talking about this this law. You know , tell us more about that study and what it found.
S3: So the study that was cited in , um , the decision being made to pass the ordinance in Chula Vista was a 2024 study. It was a it was a federal study. The Consumer Product Safety Commission report is is what they were citing. And that report showed that , uh , these micromobility vehicles , injuries , um , across the nation increased by over 150% between 2017 and 2023 and that of of that group that was , um , experiencing injuries. Uh , children under the age of 14 made up one third of those injuries.
S1: So , I mean , what do you make of these rules and how they're approaching enforcement ? You said there's like a grace period where I imagine they'll just be more about education and warning like , hey , these rules are changing. But yeah , I mean , what's your reaction to it ? Yeah.
S3: Um , the council member was saying that , you know , we're going to work with the local school district and try to get this ordinance passed before the the school year starts. Um , and we're going to work with them to put out an educational campaign of what , what to do and what not to do when it comes to writing safely on these e-bikes. I think if I'm being opinionated about my reaction to the law , uh , assuming it passes , is. That council member was saying that , hey , we're not trying to be punitive. We're trying to have the education happen yet you're going to have punitive measures. For me personally , if I'm seeing a politician saying , well , we're not trying to be punitive , but we're. We're telling you one thing and we're doing another thing. I feel a little gaslit there. And , um , uh , if you were really trying to not be punitive , you would do something else. Uh , I think the educational campaign is a great idea. I'm just personally concerned about if there was an equity lens taken to the fines. I guess , like follow up questions that I might have in future reporting is where are you going to be enforcing this ? You know what parts of Chula Vista and I always ask where because it's like , are you , um , taking the equity lens of looking at people's socioeconomic statuses ? Um , you know , are we going to see a repeated pattern of , like , black and brown neighborhoods , um , being fined and having their vehicles taken away ? That's that's that'd be a question that I would ask. Um , so. Of where they would , uh , try to target their enforcements.
S1: Well , that's where I was kind of my head was going as well. Is like we're talking about a form of transportation. So for folks , you said , you know , thing , they can confiscate the devices potentially as part of this law , but you're talking about something to get around. So you know what's going to happen to people if they don't have that. Also , the environmental piece of it , right ? I mean , these are like they are really great to get. I mean , I know we joke about the popping wheelies and stuff , but it is a really powerful way to get around and a lot of like hilly areas around South County and all over the county. Right.
S3: So yeah , like whenever I , when I've done reporting about bike lanes in the past and I've talked to bike enthusiasts , uh , either those who are very environmentally conscious or they just do it as a hobby. One of the things that they actually have shared with me is that , hey , bike lanes are actually not that feasible in certain parts of the , uh , the , the city because of the steep hills that they have to go up. So , uh , one person I interviewed , uh , like last year , he was like , we need e-bikes. You know , we need more of that. Like , that's something that's actually feasible. That would actually make people ride on these bike lanes. So , uh , there's there's so many layers to this.
S1: So you mentioned there's , you know , two votes here. So the council their next vote is on July 22nd next week. Correct. So in the time we have left , I kind of wanted to take a couple of minutes and talk a little bit more about you and you know , how you approach your work.
S3:
S4:
S1:
S4:
S3: Um , specifically South Central L.A. And , um , I so I grew up there most of the time , but I did , um , live in , in Mexico for a little bit , um , and lived a little bit here in San Diego before going to LA , and now I'm back. So it's kind of like a , um , what's the word ? It's like a full circle or. Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S3: If that's the expression. So , um , what got me into journalism specifically was just seeing , um , a lot of , um , stories about my community not being told when I see my when I saw my mom , like , working two jobs to try to feed me and my , my brother were living in a one bedroom apartment. It sucks. You know , it's it's a struggle. And I never saw stories like that in the newspaper. My mission as a journalist is just to one illuminate representation of people that haven't had that space in media , not only through my stories , but also me existing in media as well as a person of color. And then secondly , I think now that I'm becoming I've been becoming more confident in my accountability reporting as well as like , uh , investigations. I want to get somebody fired. Like , I , I'm trying to I'm , I'm kidding , but I , I , I could be kidding , but I could be not. But I'm trying to like , just hold. I want to hold people in power , um , accountable because I feel like this is gonna sound corny , but , you know , Spider-Man's uncle said , you know , with great power comes great responsibility. And I feel like sometimes we've seen so many instances where politicians are not , um , behaving responsibly. And in the end , uh , are harming the public.
S1: Well , I think , you know , one topic that I don't know , frequently we come back to on roundtable is just how journalism is , is changing , or maybe how it should be changing. And it's kind of some of the stuff that you're talking about there and your reasons for , for wanting to get involved in it. But I'm wondering how you view the state of journalism in San Diego today. I mean , say , representing South Bay specifically and maybe how it could be better in your view.
S3: I think we just need more local reporting. There's not enough reporters. And I think we all know that on a national level , it's actually pretty sad whenever I see how many public meetings are not being covered because they're so important. Um , because it's like a trickle up or , I don't know , a stairway up to a higher power of government. But if I'm thinking about like , uh , lower level committees or commissions or something and or even neighborhood community planning groups or something like that , where people are sharing ideas that will eventually make it to like the city council. And when people are speaking about these ideas in these lower level , um , at like groups , I think those are really , really important opportunities for people , the public to not only learn about , but also get involved in , like , hey , maybe I want to share my $0.02 on that. You know , so and if say they , they see something on a like a low level commission that they don't like. Like they can go to that meeting and be like , hey , I don't like that. Like , don't send that to the council. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And like we were talking earlier , you know , even for this story on e-bikes and what's happening , the Chula Vista City Council , I think that came on your radar through actually , you know , spending time and looking through those agendas , which are not always like the most user friendly.
S3: It's so boring. I'm not going to sugarcoat that. Oh , it's so dry to read that. But I'm like , what is micromobility me like , huh ? I had to Google that.
S1: But to your point , I mean , that's that's important , I know. I knew source. You all have a San Diego , a documentary project , right ? Which kind of involves the community and that can you can you talk a little bit about that ? Yeah.
S3: So our documentary program pays people. It could be anyone. Just as long as you take the training to attend these community meetings , it can be any type of public meeting. It can be something like , uh , I'll give you the example of the Human Relations Commission in Chula Vista. It can be attending an Imperial Beach Council meeting. It can be , um , looking at even if you want to focus on , um , say , San Isidro. You could go to a community planning group meeting there , um , led by them. It allows us to have kind of act like an eagle and like , or a hawk or whatever bird , and have an eye on everything. You know , we're we're we're trying to keep track of what we think is newsworthy. Uh , obviously. But I think the other layer of what I like about the documentary program is that I think it's actually making people feel really empowered about their contributions to disseminating knowledge , as well as making them feel more educated. Because I think another thing that kind of annoys me about government is that how language is used as a way to serve as a barrier for people. The more and more that these documents are attending these meetings , the more competent they will become in deciphering this very jargon language so that they know what's going on.
S1: Well , we know the ongoing challenges of journalism , but we appreciate you coming , sharing some of your approach. I think it's been really enlightening. I've been speaking with Krystal Niebla. She's the South Bay community reporter with eNews source Crystal. Thanks.
S3: Thank you.
S1: Coming up , it's time for our weekly roundup of other stories from the week. Stay tuned. Roundups coming up next. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Okay. It's time now to talk about some other stories we've been following this week. Here. To do that with me is KPBS producer Ashley. Hey , Ashley.
S5: Hey , Andrew.
S1: So the first story involves actually public media in its future. Yeah.
S5: Yeah. So the big news this week , the House and Senate have officially approved a Trump administration plan that rescinds $9 billion of previously allocated funds. That includes $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , which essentially cuts all federal support for NPR , PBS and tons of member stations across the country. And we should note that , of course , we are one of those member stations. KPBS is a PBS and NPR member station , and we do get funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. So there's a lot more information about how this all is affecting us on our website at KPBS. Um , you know , there's been a lot of votes this week. It's been kind of hard to keep track of , but we'll have a lot more on this early next week on our Midday Edition show with an interview with KPBS general manager Deanna mackey on Midday Edition.
S1: Yeah , and you're right. I mean , there's been a lot happening with the federal government and with the cuts and that that kind of leads to my next story. The New York Times published a story earlier this week , and they interviewed some of the fired federal workers that have already lost their jobs due to these DOJ's cuts that have been kind of going on over the last several months. This was from The New York Times , Eileen Sullivan , and she interviewed , you know , several of these folks. And what was interesting is just it really shows the story of just the roller coaster ride they've been on. There's been a lot of confusion. A lot of the workers maybe were fired , then later rehired. Some were notified about losing their job , but their boss reached out to them saying , oh no , you weren't on the list. And and it's kind of led to what they say is like , you know , increased stress of just like not just losing your job once , but kind of this like yo yo effect. Um , some , you know , talk about their difficulties in getting benefits. You know , as you lose your job , there's benefits you need to apply for. You need to get approved for. I think there were some examples of of folks reaching out , and the people that needed to approve it were also laid off. So it was just kind of like a difficult thing. And , you know , she spoke with one former Department of Housing and Urban Development employee who said that , you know , she had to tell herself she had to tell HUD that the agency had actually fired her. So , you know , what's interesting is it's not the end of this potential roller coaster that this story kind of , you know , portrays. The Supreme Court last week did give the administration the right to move ahead with these firings. But there's still multiple you know , there's lawsuits still going on. So , you know , maybe more ups and downs to come for some of these workers.
S5: Zach's story is about the constant push for more affordable housing in San Diego region. It's from Will Hansberry and the Voice of San Diego. He reports that both Coronado and Imperial Beach , which are very different cities , share something in common , which is that neither of them produced a single affordable home between 2018 and the end of last year. So it's really interesting , you know , the only new homes in both those places during that time period was for people with above moderate income. But progressive housing advocates say that when affordable housing only gets built in poorer parts of town , that means less access to good parks , schools and jobs. It kind of perpetuates this ongoing cycle of who has access to what services. So something to follow for sure. But I thought the approach in the story with the comparison between two very different cities was a really interesting approach.
S1: Yeah , you're right , those two cities are quite different , yet share a lot of the same dynamics there. My next story comes to the KPBS newsroom , and it's from our colleague Gustavo Solis. He's an investigative reporter here at KPBS. And he his news story , um , tells the story of one of the thousands of adoptees that are now at risk of deportation due to some kind of antiquated immigration laws we have. Gustavo spoke with one adoptee , Shirley Chung. She was born in South Korea , came to the US when she was just 16 months old , and she's now 57. And it turns out her paperwork wasn't fully finalized. And I think that's the case for a lot. He says he notes that , you know , advocates believe they're somewhere between 30,000 and 70,000 adoptees who never became U.S. citizens. And sometimes they're running into like Shirley ran into a problem. I think she was trying to get her Social Security card replaced and kind of ran into this roadblock. And now she's sort of in this legal limbo. And , you know , the adoptees they come from , you know , countries all over the place. But South Korea specifically is overrepresented here. Um , and Gustavo again , talks a little bit about sort of the immigration laws and how that's kind of playing a role here , just how they just need to be updated , which is something Gustavo has talked about on this program before as well. I will say one sort of , um , positive note I took from it is that , you know , Shirley has been working on this issue for a long time. She spent , you know , about , I think , like a decade working with the Adoptee Rights campaign in an effort to just , you know , get some legislative action , get some change here. So I thought that was an important story for people to check out.
S5: So a lot happening this week , but this next story is all about what we can look forward to next week. What do you got Andrew.
S1: So a lot's happening right now. But this last story is from the UTS. Filip molnar. Comic-Con is coming next week , if you can believe that. There's so much going on. But , um. Yeah. So Filip wrote a story about the number of wraps on San Diego trolleys. I think every year I noticed this. If you're in , you know , around trolleys , ride the trolleys. You know , um , companies like Nintendo , you know , all sorts of stuff just kind of plug their stuff for Comic-Con. Makes it really colorful. Anyway , this year , record 45 trolley cars have been wrapped. And so Comic-Con starts next week , so that'll that'll be crazy. But , you know , this time of year in July in San Diego , there's so many things happening. We know pride's about to , you know , set off earlier this week I was in Hillcrest. All the decorations were up. It's looking like they're ready to go. And as we speak , the Del Mar racetrack. It's opening day there. The hats are out. I'm sure right now I think the first race starts , you know , pretty soon Friday afternoon around two. So so many things happening. Summer's in full effect. Ashley Rush , thanks so much for being here on the roundup this week.
S5: Thanks , Andrew.
S1: That'll do it for our show today. Thanks so much for listening. You can listen to the show anytime as a podcast. KPBS roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can always email us at roundtable at KPBS or leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables technical producer this week was Brandon Truffaut. The show was produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Rooth is roundtable senior producer. I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.
