California lawmakers approve new bills on labor and more

S1: This week on Roundtable. California's legislative session officially ended this week. We're looking at the bills that made it to the governor's desk.

S2: Yeah , I think this year was a huge win for labor groups. They really were some of the biggest winners during the legislative session this year.

S1: And today marks Democracy Day. A look at the overall health of democracy in the nation and San Diego.

S3: The Brookings Institution released a pretty ominous report in. Asking whether democracy is failing. And the answer was a resounding yes.

S1: Then it's happy hour or happy hour. The San Diego beer industry is large in our region , but it's seeing some consolidation.

S4: It's not so much that a brewery is going out of business. That happened in very small numbers over the last 12 months , but more strategic moves in a business sense.

S1: Don't go anywhere. Roundtable is coming up next. Welcome to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. California's legislative session just ended and new bills are on the governor's desk , while some others have already been signed into law. Cal Matters reports that this session had seen the most bills introduced in more than a decade , and that means some changes are coming for Californians. Joining us with the latest is Cap Radio's Nicole Nixon. Nicole , welcome back to Roundtable.

S2: Thanks for having. Me.

S1: Me. Great to have you here. Before we dive into all this , any surprises Thursday ? We know that the legislative session went to almost midnight and I'm sure you are up late following everything.

S2: Yeah , You know , I think the biggest surprise was that they ended at a decent hour , like right around midnight , and that most of the bills that at least that I was watching passed. It seems like lawmakers after 3 or 4 years of huge disruptions and the pandemic and trying to do stuff remotely this felt like kind of the most normal if you can call it that last night of the legislative session in a few years , and they kind of had their stuff in order.

S1: So there were so many bills up for debate. I mean , let's start in the labor sector here. Everything from minimum wages for health care workers and fast food employees to even expanding paid sick leave. All that was on the table.

S2: They really were some of the biggest winners during the legislative session this year. There was one bill in direct response to these drawn out Hollywood strikes. It would let workers who are on strike get unemployment benefits if their labor dispute lasts for two weeks or more. And then there were two bills to provide higher minimum wages for both fast food workers and the lower paid healthcare workers. So we could see a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers next spring and health care workers getting up to a $25 minimum wage in the next few years. Lawmakers also passed bills to provide more sick pay for all workers in the state of five day sick pay. Minimum more workplace protections for domestic workers like nannies and house cleaners. And then I want to mention it's a big win for lawmakers own staff , the people who work in the Capitol and run these bills , they've been banned from unionizing for decades , are the only public employees who cannot join a union. That could change in 2026 under a bill just sent to Governor Gavin Newsom this week , which is really big for a legislature that's seen as pro-labor , finally allowing their workers to have the same , you know , workers rights that most other workers in California enjoy.

S1: Then on the housing front , there was a bill to incentivize more building on churches and colleges , plus another involving rent deposits or maybe limits on those.

S2: The the bill involving churches would streamline a process for Faith-Based Organizations and nonprofit colleges to build new , affordable housing on their land. It would open a bunch of new space up for housing. Housing advocates have called it a game changer. This other bill was seen as a way to reduce barriers to get into new or better housing. It would cap your security deposit if you're looking to get into a new apartment to one month's rent. You know , the lawmakers running this bill mentioned that if , you know , if you're moving into a new apartment , you're paying your first month's rent , your last month's rent , sometimes three month's rent worth of security deposits as well. So that can make it very , very difficult for people , especially working low wage jobs , to get into new and better housing.

S1: It sounds like some legislation on guns also made it through , including an effort to change the US Constitution relating to background checks.

S2: Now that would be a very lengthy process , but it began last night officially with the California legislature passing this resolution to call for a constitutional convention of the states. This is a pretty controversial idea. It's something that's never happened before. Usually when the Constitution has been amended , it's gone through Congress and been ratified by states. A state's constitution has never happened. So some constitutional scholars have warned that it could open this Pandora's box for conservative states to kind of try to hijack that convention and pass whatever policies they want. Now , this resolution , the governor's office says it's tailored and no other amendments would be allowed. But ultimately , if he wants to get this done and pass these new gun control measures , including universal background checks. An assault weapons ban , raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 years old , he'll have to convince 37 other states to ratify these amendments. So it's a huge , huge political mountain for him to climb. Now , also want to mention quickly a new 11% tax on gun and ammo sales , you know , making it more expensive to buy firearms , which was pretty controversial for some moderate Democrats and Republicans. That money , about 160 million , will go to fund school safety and gun violence prevention efforts.

S1: There's also some legislation pertaining to the environment , and it sounds like specifically surrounding emissions tracking and reporting.

S2: It would require billion dollar corporations in California to track and report their own greenhouse gas emissions. So and make that more accessible to the public. This is seen as a big win for environmental groups just to get these big companies on record. It failed in previous years but made it through this year.

S1: Among the bills that did not make it or a couple of public safety bills that law enforcement had lobbied against.

S2: There were exceptions , including , you know , people convicted of multiple homicides. You know , the intent was to give people who are aging in the prison system to petition to get out that face fierce opposition from law enforcement groups and Republicans. Another one that ended up failing in the final hours would have banned what's known as pretextual stops. Like , you know , when you're not speeding or breaking any other driving laws , but you get pulled over for maybe a tail light being out or a license plate issue. The author of that , Senator Steven Bradford , said that it was meant to reduce police profiling of people of color. He pointed to statistics that here in Sacramento , black people are five times more likely to be stopped than white drivers for these kinds of violations. So fierce lobbying from law enforcement and public safety groups. These both ended up dying in the final hours of the legislative session last night.

S1: And you mentioned fierce lobbying there. We know that happens back and forth on these bills.

S2: It actually passed the legislature and the governor vetoed it. It would ban a solitary confinement for , you know , vulnerable populations in prison , older inmates , pregnant people. And the concern was that it was too similar to the version that the governor had already vetoed. So the author pulled that in the last couple of days. And he tells me that he's waiting for new regulations from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. And , you know , he'll look at those over the next few months and the bill may come back in some fashion next year.

S1: And Nicole , can you also remind us of the process here ? I mean , the legislature passes these bills , right ? But it doesn't mean that they're automatically law.

S2: He's got hundreds of them on his desk now. He has the next 30 days until October 14th to make those decisions.

S1:

S2: And there are so many bills he has already signed. A couple that I'll mention. One is by San Diego Senate President Pro Tem Tony Atkins to repeal California's ban on state funded travel to 26 other states that have passed laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people. That is no more. The state can once again begin paying to send , you know , university public university professors , state workers to these states. Once again , it'll be replaced with a donation driven ad campaign in these states. It's kind of a new approach that Atkins wants to try , also acknowledging that that travel ban may have gotten out of hand with how large it got over the past seven years. And then one more bill that Newsom has signed are some changes to the referendum process , which is the citizens or special interest groups way to overturn laws that the legislature passes that some people don't like. When you're voting on that as a voter , it can be confusing. You get yes or no , which on a referendum to overturn a law can be confusing. So it'll change that language to as a voter , you can vote to keep a law or overturn a law.

S1: Nicole Nixon covers politics for Cap Radio in Sacramento. And Nicole. Thanks so much for being here and catching us up on all the latest.

S2: No problem. Happy to do it.

S1: Coming up on Democracy Day , we're taking a closer look at the threats facing American democracy.

S3: Americans are mostly consuming news that matches their political views. We're not being given news from different sources that are operating from the same set of facts.

S1: Stick with us. Roundtable continues just after the break. Welcome back to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. Friday is International Democracy Day. It's a day to review the state of democracy. And Kpbs investigative reporter Amita Sharma has been taking a closer look both here in the San Diego region and the nation at large. And some of what she's finding is raising concerns about the future. Amita joins us now to tell us more. Welcome back to Roundtable.

S3: It's good to be here with you , Matt.

S1: Great to have you here.

S3: So very , very basic concepts come to mind when I think of democracy in regards to my story. As you well know , we've been flooded with news stories in recent years about anti-democratic forces in this country. The Brookings Institution released a pretty ominous report a year ago asking whether democracy is failing. And the answer was a resounding yes. There's a line in that report about how American democracy is under assault because there is a systematic attack on state and local voting machinery. So I've been mulling that over in my head for a long time. And then , you know , Democracy Day is today , as you mentioned. So we thought that we would take a look at how democracy is faring in San Diego County at that local level.

S1: And part of that story , you spoke with Carl Luna. He's a political science professor with San Diego Mesa College. And he sort of really made the case that it's important to think locally when we talk about democracy. Here's a little about what he had to say.

S5: The late Tip O'Neill , former speaker of the House , said all politics is local and that means all democracy is local. If you kill democracy at the grassroots , the rest of it's going to wither and die. And what you've seen is national level partisanship and polarization has gone back to infect the local level , which is just going to make the cycle worse.

S1:

S3: At least 13 states have passed stricter voting laws since the start of this year. And some of those restrictions include not allowing absentee voting or in Georgia , for instance , they wouldn't even allow people to hand out water and food to voters who'd been waiting in line for hours. Although I think that part of the law was actually overturned. But there's a law in Florida that has been enacted that would basically put an end to voter registration drives ahead of the 2024 election. So there is the example of voting. There is a deep divide in this country over LGBTQ rights and race in San Diego County. Some people have pushed back against school districts and public libraries on having LGBTQ books available for people to check out or even even books on race. So that's another way that this polarization is playing out at the local level. Hate crimes are down in San Diego County , but for a good long time they were up. We've had very high profile hate crime incidents here. A year ago , a black teenager girl was stabbed. In 2019 , we had a shooting at a synagogue. One person was killed. Three people were injured. So you can see a direct line between what's happening at the national level , make its way to the local level.

S1: And we know that you're reporting notes that voting access in San Diego is strong. And in that story , you also highlight how threats to local officials , they've also been on the rise. And I think in that you cited a recent poll from the University of San Diego , and it found that two thirds of local officials that they surveyed say that threats have increased since they took office. You actually spoke with one elected , I think it was a Chula Vista school board member.

S3: Inclusivity in regards to LGBTQ students or the need to close the gap between black and white students that she gets threats and some of them are sexually violent. And , you know , overall in the county , the same USD survey found that women , 82% of women report receiving threats compared to , I believe , 66% of men. So overall , the threat environment in San Diego is much higher than it has ever been.

S1: And I know earlier you mentioned about some of the threats in regards to like book bans and happening in schools , but also some local libraries here in San Diego. There's been some isolated incidents there.

S3: And they say that they're ready for the fight. They know what censorship is. They see the effort to ban books as censorship. They're not on board with it in neither , they say , are the communities that their libraries are in.

S1: And there was one striking statistic that you found , and it was from a journalism professor at Northwestern University , and they said that the US has lost 60% of its journalists since 2005.

S3: It informs people about the communities that they live in. What are local schools doing ? What is city Hall up to ? Are there bad actors ? If so , what are they doing ? It really bonds communities and it makes residents in them much more civically minded. They tend to participate in community events a lot more when there's a lot of local news coverage. I should say here that Professor Penny Abernathy at the Middle School of Journalism in at Northwestern University has actually created a map of news deserts across this country. And she studies what happens to communities when they lose newspapers altogether or there is diminished news coverage. Here's what she says.

S6: Voter participation in local elections goes down. Corruption among government officials as well as local businesses tends to increase. And as a result , we end up paying more in taxes and we're subject to more misinformation and disinformation. We all need credible information to make wise , everyday decisions as well as decisions that will affect future generations.

S1: And we know that San Diego is not immune to shrinking of local news. Earlier this year , the San Diego Union-Tribune , which is our region's largest newspaper , it was sold to a hedge fund and soon after its newsroom began shrinking in size. People taking buyout offers , people leaving the company.

S3: We still have a major daily newspaper. Having said that , though , coverage has dwindled dramatically. Back in the 1990s , there were 400 people in the newsroom. Today there are just over 100 at the San Diego Union Tribune. That paper used to have regional editions with plenty of reporters to cover school board meetings to cover city Hall. I remember at one time they had , I think , three reporters covering San Diego City Hall. So you can imagine how much reporting emerges from that. It's anybody's guess what happens to the Union-Tribune next. They've recently been purchased by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. They have a reputation for gutting newspapers. So again , it remains to be seen what goes on there. We know that people in the newsroom have taken buyouts , but we don't know how many.

S1: And we talked on roundtable here previously about the importance of local news and the impact in its investigations , like investigations that you've done. We had you on talking about former Mayor Bob Filner and sort of the major impact that local news can have.

S3: Americans are mostly consuming news that matches their political views. We're not being given news from different sources that are operating from the same set of facts. There are distortions , there are lies and social media only amplifies that.

S1: And as we wrap up here , there's one concerning fact that you mentioned in your story for Democracy Day , and it's about how the number of Americans who see political violence as something that's justified and it's rising.

S3: And I should say that the percentages of Americans who believe that political violence may be necessary are still very low. The report shows that around 7% of Americans now believe violence could be necessary to restore Trump to the presidency. And there is support among Democrats for violence to restore the federal right to abortion. And those numbers are at 12% , so low.

S1: But as you mentioned , that they have been rising. I've been speaking with Kpbs investigative reporter Amita Sharma. And , Amita , thanks so much for being here with us.

S3: Thanks for having me , Matt.

S1: When roundtable returns. In the wake of some brewery closures and industry consolidation , we're getting a temperature check of San Diego's beer scene.

S4: Enough new businesses have come in to take the place of the old ones where my number of between 200 and 2230 brewery on venues has stayed the same.

S1: That's coming up just ahead on Roundtable. Welcome back to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. San Diego is the ultimate beer creation destination. That's according to the San Diego Brewers Guild , who also calls our region capital of Craft with more than 150 independent craft breweries. And while there's a lot of options , it's also creating a lot of competition. Over the past year , more than a dozen breweries have closed. Their exit , though , is creating opportunities for other brew operations to expand. Joining us to dive into it all is Brandon Hernandez. He's the founder of San Diego Beer News and he's been covering the beer beat here for 16 years. Brandon , welcome to Roundtable.

S4: Hi there. It's good to be with you.

S1: Great to have you here. So let's kind of start with the beer exits from San Diego. You recently had a piece that was in the Union Tribune where you say that 17 breweries have closed over the last year.

S4: And it's actually a 17 brewery owned location. So versus it being an entire company per se , because a lot of breweries operate in satellite tasting rooms or a restaurant location or something like that. We're talking about all sorts of different types of those locations. But what you see there is not something that where you can just draw a line straight through it and say there are parallels with all of these businesses and why they are closing. And a lot of senses it's not so much that a brewery is going out of business. That happened in very small numbers over the last 12 months , but more strategic moves in a business sense or just being priced out where perhaps a lease is involved and saying , Hey , I used to pay this and now you want to raise my rent to this , I'm not getting on board with that and I'm out of here.

S1: Yeah , so it kind of sounds like that there's maybe not one like central theme as to why some of these are closing or even just maybe downsizing , getting a little bit smaller.

S4: You know , people are locavores. They want to support their local everything. And we've seen that trend over the past 10 to 15 years where it's before something like a stone brewing was cool. They were everywhere. And so they were big and they had great beers and we like that. Then Ballast Point was big and they had their beer everywhere and they had great beers and we like that. Now people are moving towards I want to support the little guys and I think we saw this a lot during the pandemic. People like really just grasping on and helping out folks who needed that assistance more , obviously. And then it just became a source of neighborhood civic pride. That's just how future generations and are going to gravitate towards. You can see it with each passing generation. People want to get closer and closer to their home. So consolidating operations and getting smaller and smarter and more efficient is kind of what a lot of breweries are doing. One example would be Ruler Brewing , a brewery that's based up in Carlsbad. They experienced some good growth before the pandemic , and we're able to actually go from leasing their facility that they were in to purchasing it from H.G. Fenton , who they were leasing it from , and taking over the suite next door , upping their operations. And then they went ahead and fulfilled the dream of opening their first satellite tasting room. And that was in the work park area. That's very much saturated with not just breweries , but all sorts of hospitality venues. They didn't see the numbers they wanted to see there and they were tired of chasing growth. And after a year they said , you know , we gave this a good world , but don't think it's going the way we want it to. Let's go back to what was successful , and that was having a core group of fans that we could , you know , reach out , touch and get our arms around. And they went back to just operating out of Carlsbad.

S1: And I think you also kind of noted in that article that some some breweries or some of their operations , you know , maybe not closing for good , but stepping away for a little bit while they kind of refigure. But I guess generally , Brandon , when you look at the craft beer scene here locally , you know , I've heard you talk on podcast before about how this industry has had many ups and downs over the years.

S4: And obviously that can't last forever. It's just never going to be the good times , the high times all the time. Then the pandemic came along and we kind of figured , Oh , it's going to come crashing down. And it didn't. Thanks to a lot of government assistance and people banding together , doing what they could to stay open. Now we're finally starting to see a little bit of a shakeout. I think we're going to continue to see that from folks who don't maybe. Exercise as much fiscal responsibility or don't have the business acumen to navigate the waters that we're in now. Because like you had touched on earlier , there's tons of competition , more competition than ever before. I think we're hovering around 10,000 breweries in the United States of the craft brewery ilk. And there's also competition from things like alternative beverages , hard kombucha , hard seltzer , hard , you name it. And then also there's always been wine and spirits , so there's a lot of competition within the segment and beyond it.

S1: And I think in another one of your pieces , you mentioned that there's like 19 new venues being opened by breweries and that's coming soon. And earlier you mentioned that you talk with a lot of brewery owners in San Diego and you actually used to work in marketing for some of these breweries. I guess maybe simple question.

S4: Right ? But really , back in the day , that was enough to get you buy. These days , you really do need to have a good deal of business acumen or people on your team who can provide that for you. A lot of folks used to and continue to get into brewing because they don't like their day job , but they love to brew and they love the craft beer culture and the craft beer culture is such a it's so wonderful and so inviting and downright fun and there's great camaraderie. So who wouldn't want to be a part of it ? A lot of people are happy to just make a living , but it can be really rough to do that these days. So you really do need somebody or multiple people who know what they're doing from a marketing standpoint , who know what they're doing to help put together a viable business plan. That's that is going to , in my opinion , make the biggest difference as to who succeeds and who doesn't is just who looks at it as a business in addition to their art , in addition to their passion.

S1:

S4: Back in the day , you could make just about anything. And people were so craft beer was new , say , 20 years ago to a lot of people. It was brand new and they were exploring it together. This is before IPA was so much the king that it was the only thing you ever heard about where it was so popular that it makes it in the New York Times , you know , as an answer to a crossword puzzle question , Everybody was just happy to have interesting beer to try. And then it had to be really good. And now it's almost become consolidated stylistically so that you must have not one , but several IPAs. And we're talking and it could be West Coast IPAs , but then you have to have hazy IPAs as well. People are loving lagers , right now. Lagers wouldn't sell at all. 10 to 15 years ago. Nobody was interested in them at all. And now everybody wants great German lagers , even Mexican style lagers and even American light lagers. Like you would see the big boys making the the AB InBev and the Molson Coors of the world. It's quite interesting. And it's most people's beer boards are rather limited these days. And it's really tough for folks who say , want to make a very nice English pub ale or a great Belgian beer or something like that to brew it because they don't think it's going to sell. In fact , they know it won't. And I'm seeing this. I get around and do travel pieces as well. I see this all over the United States. It's just a consolidation of styles because people are only interested in things that have IPA on it or are quote unquote crushable as a lager.

S1:

S4: New businesses have come in to take the place of the old ones where my number of between 200 and 2230 brewery on venues has stayed the same for the past I would say 3 or 4 years. They are smaller operations , however , so what you see is less overall production. It's those , it's those nimble , small breweries that don't have great aspirations to become the next big thing where their beer is in every big box , store and grocery store across the United States. They are happy to have distribution only in their state. They're happy to only sell their beer in their tasting room , which is , by the way , where they get the best margins by far. And it's a safe place to be right now. Nobody wants to be overextended in the current market , and that has spelled collapse for several breweries , including locally modern times , which was since purchased by the parent company for Maui Brewing. And they're looking at doing things completely different.

S1: And , you know , Brandon , oftentimes we hear a lot about things like gas prices , but what about the price of beer like ? An individual beer with all this competition. Is that low ? I mean , I know people might be familiar going places and maybe even seeing beer as high as 10 or $12 for one if you're actually going out to a venue.

S4: The pricing has always been a big deal , even when it wasn't being driven by all this. Inflation cost of goods has never been more expensive. Cost of labor has never been more expensive. Everything utilities , rent is through the roof , fuel , you name it. And so right now , universally people are these breweries are struggling with how to price their beer. They hate to put it up any higher. I can tell you that it's a pain point for them , not just from a dollars and cents angle , but just ethically for them. Because , you know , at the end of the day , they're beer lovers , too , and they would be upset if their beer , which it is , is get got more expensive. They don't want to contribute to that. And they wouldn't want to wish upon them. So they don't want to wish it upon their customers either. People are definitely doing everything they can to keep it as low as they can. But as you see , the prices are raising much higher , and especially at restaurants where up the price of everything by a certain percentage , much like they do wine , beer is getting to that point , but it doesn't seem to be affecting many of the breweries as much as they thought it might. Everyone I talked to in interviews where we discussed this topic says I'm surprised that I don't get more backlash about this. At the end of the day , people seem like they understand. They understand that everything is getting more expensive. And I guess if you're going out and buying eggs for way too much money , you're buying gas for way too much money. Somewhere in there , your mind adapts to that environment and understands that your beer will also be more expensive. So at least for now , people are understanding , it would seem , and I don't think people have seen their sales get knocked off , mostly because every brewery is doing it. It's not like one brewery is getting labeled as the high priced brewery , if you will.

S1: And finally , as we wrap up here , Brandon , are you seeing any new trends here in the beer region ? You know , a few years ago there was the kombucha craze.

S4: Food is a big thing. A lot of a lot of folks are factoring food in in a new way where it's just very , very important. They're trying to make their places even more inviting. Now , back in the day , it was just you would go to a industrial park and sit in a warehouse on a grain sack. It wasn't very sexy to get craft beer , but , you know , it was it was a lot of fun. I can say that much. And then the likes of Stone and other folks who built grand palatial spots to drink a beer and really put emphasis behind the customer experience changed the game and slowly everyone's come along. And now you'd be challenged to find anybody who plans to get in the industry and not provide a more inviting spot where people want to stay for a while , where they can stay for a while because the amenities they need are there. So I'd say that that's never been more a focus than it is right now. And it's pretty cool because whether people are bringing in a entertainment or gaming aspect , food , live performances and other programming , some folks have a home brew shop within their within their space because they're looking for that crowd family friendly. There's just something for everybody. And people are really bringing better food , better entertainment , more comfort and all of the things that you want. Creature comforts are are huge right now.

S1: I've been speaking with Brandon Hernandez with San Diego Beer News. And Brandon , thanks so much for being here with us today.

S4: Oh , it's a pleasure.

S1: Now it's time for the roundup where we take a look at some other stories happening in and around San Diego. And with us , as always , is Kpbs roundtable producer Andrew Bracken. Andrew , happy Friday. Hey , Matt. Great to have you here. All right.

S7: For undergraduate students , that.

S1: Is getting more and more expensive. I mean , I remember even when I went to college , I thought it was expensive , but I was just I was looking at some of the costs to go to school. And on the Cal State website , they estimated for San Diego , even if you're living with your parents for one year , $24,000 a year , if you're living in off campus housing , $34,000 a year.

S7: And in that report , Perez actually spoke with San Diego State student sophomore Arianna Garcia , kind of about , you know , one of the reasons she chose a Cal State school was because of the low tuition. Here's what she had to say.

S8: All the other schools that I applied to while they were great , they were like out of the price range and with like being able to do go here. I don't have any student debt , thank goodness.

S1: All right. What else is.

S7: Next ? Well , mosquitoes , I don't know if you've been seeing it in your home , but we have an hour's there's been more mosquitoes lately , especially after the aftermath of Hurricane Hillary and an NBC seven story kind of highlights it and says there's an increase in ankle biter mosquitoes , which are sort of low flying mosquitoes. I can attest to that in my own personal life that we've seen more of these. They should go away in a few months. You know , we're already seeing a cooldown , so hopefully they won't be around too long. But if anybody's been having those bites , that's that's what's that's what's bringing them.

S1: Very interesting because one of my roommates , Tyler , he's been having them. I haven't had them in my room , so I don't know what he's doing in his room , but he was wondering if they were like spiders. But so good to know it's mosquitoes , something that'll go away after just a little bit.

S7: And also here locally , we're seeing some of the bioluminescence at some local beaches. Gary Robbins from the Union Tribune wrote about it. It's been , you know , pretty common this time of year. And La Jolla Shores , Encinitas , parts of North County , but also several parts of San Diego. Right now , you can catch that plankton that kind of lights up at night. It's kind of an interesting experience if you haven't checked it out.

S1: Something I'll try to check out this year for myself. Okay. What else you got ? Axios.

S7: San Diego had a report on scooters. I think everybody you know , we're familiar with seeing scooters on San Diego streets. Well , there's a lot less of them. There's a lot less scooter riding going on this past year. So they have a report on that. I think it was about 600,000 rides up till August as opposed to 3 million the year before. And part of the reason they talk about is the San Diego City rules went into effect last August , adding more regulation , more rules to those scooters. There was a lot of complaints on streets , but it's just interesting to see what a downslide those scooters have had. And a related story , NBC seven had a story about how the city is starting to crack down on e-bikes , on beach boardwalks , and they actually talked with somebody that kind of he rides his e-bike and was really disappointed that he you know , he has type two diabetes and kind of uses it as a way to get around and was kind of disappointed that they're starting to crack down. That rule has been in place. But just interesting to see these new types of transportation that we think may kind of take over. But some of these new rules kind of bring them back down. And that's what we're seeing here. Yeah.

S1: Or I think it was originally pitched right as a kind of a they call it like the final mile , so to speak. Like when you get off of a trolley , you might have to take a scooter to get to your final destination being your house. Interesting to see the ridership going down. I know just a very small anecdote. I went to a Padre game with a friend a couple of months ago. It was actually when the rock and roll marathon was happening and we walked over and then on the way back we wanted to ride some scooters and so we jumped on the scooters. We were a few blocks away , but about a block in , they just stopped working and we looked at the map and the whole map was blocked off. So I don't know , maybe it's more the restrictions , but I know it was pretty frustrating not having to walk back and find a place to dock the scooter.

S7: And you're right. I mean , one note that Axios San Diego does make is that , you know , the city does have these climate action goals. I think it's you know , their goal by 2030 is to have some , you know , 35% or so of residents commuting without driving. So you take away some of these options or , you know , what's going to fill it to meet those climate action goals will be a question going forward.

S1: All right.

S7: What's next ? Okay. This is a little more broad , but something I've been thinking about , and that is the struggle with streaming. I think for a long time when people started moving away from television , from cable television , streaming was a , you know , cheaper option , a simpler option , just like it made more sense for our lifestyle. The Atlantic's Charlie Was. He published a piece this week saying that streaming has reached this. You know , is kind of crossed the point of no return and is not better than cable necessarily. In fact , he's saying this fall , the monthly price for , you know , a bundle of the top streaming services is now expected to exceed the price of an average cable package , which is kind of an interesting thing. I mean , the main point of the piece is kind of , you know , a lot of times the question is , you know , what I want to watch right now , but it's also now how do I watch it ? I got to , you know , is it on Disney Plus ? Is it on Netflix ? And you're kind of wondering , are all these different streaming services ? So the streaming arms race that he calls it has really changed how we watch TV , if you want to call it that at this point. But it hasn't necessarily made it cheaper or easier.

S1: Yeah , I think to your point , it definitely started out cheaper. I remember even having some of my own streaming services myself and then the price would just keep increasing and increasing and increasing. Obviously they're adding more channels. But one interesting thing there too , is live streaming of sports. I know that , you know , these streaming companies , they sign local contracts like , for instance , the Padres. You can't watch them on every single streaming platform. I mean , they just don't have deals with everybody. But up in areas like Sacramento , you know , they have a lot more deals. So it's interesting how money plays into this and viewership and all that. So it'll be interesting to see how this changes in the future.

S7: To your point , I like to watch soccer , but to watch this league , you have to watch on that service. To watch that league , you have to watch on another service. So it's that same thing where you're kind of just like juggling in the air to , you know , to find the content you want to watch.

S1: Then you end up paying even more than you would for cable. Exactly. All right.

S7: They just say the noise is too loud , there's too much disruption. So they just yeah , they're just suing the city. Now , you.

S1: Would think and I don't know how long they've been doing these concerts there or maybe some of these buildings were there before Petco Park was there. But it kind of comes with the territory , I would think , Right , Because Padres games have to be loud down there. I expect a lot of loud noises coming out of Petco Park. And I know the Padres and that Channel eight story , they kind of sent out a statement saying that they are more than just a ballpark , like they're an entertainment destination. And so it sounds like these things are going to continue. Another interesting piece in that Cbs8 article was the residents were saying that also some of the lights that come out of these concerts , you know , like when they have all these effects , are also like beaming into their homes. And they don't they don't like that.

S7: Well , one thing the piece did also mention is because I think a lot of people are familiar with outdoor venues in San Diego , It's pretty common thing. But it did mention that some of their I guess , their arguments is that some of the other outdoor venues do a better job of like mitigating the noise and making it not as disruptive to residents. So I don't know. We'll just see see where that goes. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Because when you're downtown to all the noises seem to reverberate off of the skyscrapers and all that. All right.

S7: I think a lot of people , when they think of Mexican independence , might confuse it with Cinco de Mayo , which was a battle historical battle that Mexico won. But Independence Day is this Saturday. The celebrations start with L Grito , which is a celebration of independence that starts the night before. And there are a number of events happening. NBC seven has a list of events. I think the UT has a good list of there. For example , today at five at Chicano Park , there's an algorithm Independencia in Barrio Logan that people can attend. But there's basically events on both sides of the border through the weekend.

S1: Something definitely to check out. And you , Brackin , thanks so much for being here on the roundup.

S7: Thank you , Matt.

S1: That's going to wrap up roundtable for this week. We appreciate you being here. If you have a question or comment on anything you heard today , leave us a voicemail. (619) 452-0228 or you can email us roundtable at pbs.org. If you missed any part of our show , go ahead and check out the Kpbs Roundtable podcast. Our show airs on Kpbs at noon on Fridays and again on Sunday at 6 a.m.. Roundtable is produced by Andrew Bracken. Rebecca Chacon and Adrian Villalobos are our technical producers. I'm your host , Matt Hoffman. Thanks so much for being here with us. Have a great weekend. San Diego.