Congressman Levin Proposes Bill To Tackle San Onofre Nuclear Storage And More Local News

Speaker 1: 00:00 Good morning. It's April 17th I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego News Matters, San Diego base, Qualcomm and did a two year legal dispute with apple Tuesday just as the trial over the dispute got underway. KPBS editor Tom Fudge tells us how the tech giants agreed to dismiss all litigation between each other worldwide Speaker 2: 00:22 opening statements. We're wrapping up in a San Diego federal courtroom when apple and Qualcomm, the two litigants and and stayed reached a settlement. The dispute had revolved around the week. QUALCOMM had charged royalties on chip technology used by apple and other smartphone makers. Apple argued Qualcomm was receiving money. They weren't entitled to Edd issue were billions of dollars in smartphone profits. The settlement includes an undisclosed payment from apple to Qualcomm. What it looks like a win for the chip maker. The deal also includes a six year license agreement and a multi year chip supply agreement. Tom Fudge, k PBS news. Speaker 1: 01:01 The process of stories we have fuel at San Onofre. Nuclear Generating Station is on hold. That's after an incident last summer where one of the fuel canisters almost dropped 18 feet on Tuesday. Congressman Mike Levin, who represents the area of the station and told of his proposed legislation, KPBS reporter Claire Triggers her. Has this report, the decommissioning process, is that a standstill? And there's still no answer for what to ultimately do with the spent fuel. But Congressman Mike Levin has what he says is one part of the solution, a new bill that would redo how the Department of Energy decides what order spent fuel is collected for nuclear sites to put Santa no fray at the top of the list. Speaker 2: 01:46 Well, I don't think there is any other site in the United States that has the seismic risk, the population density, uh, and is a decommissioned or decommissioning site. I'm fairly certain that we're the only site quite like it, Speaker 1: 02:00 but even if Lebanese bill we're past, there is no permanent place for the spent fuel to go. 11 says the best case scenario is that Santa no freight would be closed and clear of waste in 10 years. Claire Traeger, Sir Kpbs News, Imperial County water managers may still join the Colorado River drought contingency plan recently approved by Congress. KPBS reporter Eric Anderson has details. Speaker 3: 02:26 The imperial irrigation district was frozen out of the multistate deal when Los Angeles water managers offered to provide water cutbacks if like mead continues to lose water. Tina shields is an IID water manager. She says her district could still join the agreement if the fate of the Salton Sea is considered. Speaker 4: 02:44 Obviously the health of the Colorado River is very important to us. We don't want that system to crash. It's our only water supplies. Speaker 3: 02:51 Shields says federal funding for salt and sea management is one key remaining obstacle. Meanwhile, California is moving forward with plans create wetland habitat on 4,000 acres of exposed like bed near the new river. The plan would control dust on recently exposed like bed, but that project isn't due to be complete until 2023 Eric Anderson Kpbs News, Speaker 1: 03:15 the city of San Diego is opening up its third safe parking lot for people who are homeless. KPBS report or Matt Hoffman has more. Speaker 3: 03:23 The new lot is in mission valley right across from Stcu stadium and is operated by Jewish family service. It will accommodate cars and RV's, but it's not just a place to park and sleep. There will be case managers on hand trying to help people get into housing. Jewish family service CEO Michael Hopkins says the nonprofit runs two other similar parking lots and says many of it's clients are people experiencing homelessness for the first time. Speaker 5: 03:48 I don't think anyone in our community should be living in a car. It's just, you know, that's not a place to raise a family. That's not where you would want a, you know, we wouldn't want our mothers and fathers to to, to grow old to living in their car. Speaker 3: 04:00 The new lot comes as mayor Kevin Faulconer is proposing a law that would ban people from living in their cars on neighborhood streets. The overnight parking lot in mission valley is set to open up and about a month and a half. Matt Hoffman tape UBS news. Speaker 1: 04:14 The nonprofit which will operate the lot, says it will hold up to 300 vehicles. The city is paying for the space to be open for at least a year. The Marines released more details about the raider who was killed at Camp Pendleton over the weekend. KPBS military reporters, Steve Walsh says the California native was an eight year veteran of the core Speaker 6: 04:36 staff. Sergeant Joshua Braco was 29 years old. Originally from Sacramento. He leaves behind a wife and child. Braco was a critical skills operator with the First Marine Raider Battalion, the elite unit stationed at Pendleton. He joined the Marines in 2010 in 2015 he became a radar and deployed with the marine special operations units. Starting in July, 2017 breaker was critically injured when the r z our tactical vehicle, he was driving rolled over during a training exercise. Saturday he died Sunday evening. The Marines say the accident is under investigation. The MRZR looks like a Dune buggy. It has only been in a wide service in the marines since 2017 Steve Walsh KPBS PBS news Speaker 1: 05:20 100 days into his term. Governor Gavin Newsom has yet to appoint a state of homelessness secretary as he promised on the campaign trail. Capitol public radio is politifact. Reporter Chris Nichols is tracking his promises on the new some meter and asked advocates for the homeless what they think about this lack of action. Speaker 3: 05:40 Here's what Newsome pledged in a campaign video. Speaker 7: 05:43 We must address homelessness. I'll create an inner agency council to end chronic homelessness led by cabinet level secretary committed to solving the issue, not just managing it. Speaker 3: 05:55 Several advocates for the homeless told us Speaker 8: 05:58 they're pleased with Newsome's budget, which calls for more than $600 million in funding for the homeless. Chris Martin of the nonprofit housing California says adding a cabinet level secretary would ensure the issue remains a priority in his administration. Speaker 9: 06:14 It is a little bit concerning that we're, we're uh, about a hundred days then and we kind of haven't gotten the update. Speaker 8: 06:20 Others told us they want to make sure Newsome follows through on his funding promises and are less concerned about a new cabinet position. It might not be long before Newsome fills that post. He said in an interview on Monday with Capitol Public Radio that he'll announce this week that he's filled the position. I think we have 3,600. Okay. Speaker 10: 06:38 Appointments. And I think we've made, uh, I think we've done justice. Speaker 8: 06:43 We'll produce updates on our new some meter as there's progress or a lack thereof on each campaign promise in Sacramento. I'm Chris Nichols, Speaker 1: 06:53 read all of our new some meter updates@politifact.com slash California Pacific gas and electric has filed for bankruptcy protection. Southern California Edison and San Diego gas and electric just saw big credit rating drops and new studies suggest California utility rates could skyrocket. Governor Gavin Newsom says all of that is proof. California must find new ways to absorb billions of dollars in wildfire damages. Tuesday was Newsome's 100th day as governor and he sat down earlier this week with capital public radio's been Adler. Ben Asked, knew some about a proposal that's very unpopular with voters to shift liability away from utilities when their equipment starts fires, but they're not at fault. Speaker 10: 07:39 This is complicated and it requires a gestation period with a lot of groups and interested parties that need to digest the consequences of change because one thing is not working and that's the status quo. We all will pay the price of the status quo in it is jaw dropping those costs. And so I'm trying to address that, I think in a, in a different approach and different strategy and different way. And you don't just have to bring lawmakers along, you have to bring voters along because the idea of a quote unquote PG and e bail out. And I recognize that you can fix the term bail out to anything you don't like and make it a talking point. But voters don't want that and they can turn sour on you awfully quickly. And yet you're, you're certainly saying we at least at the very least need to consider this deeply unpopular step. Speaker 10: 08:24 Yeah, no, I'm, I'm not bailing out PGD. I've never argued for that. In fact, her report causing and break the glass scenario municipalization. I don't know how that could be construed as a bailout, but, uh, no, I get that. And the purpose of this document was to make public the complexities of this. It's a climate change report. It's a report about, uh, forgive me, procurement. Uh, it's about sustainable energy policy. It's a, a report about governance. It's not a report about PGE. It's report about utilities operating, uh, with the hots getting hotter and the drives getting drier. Uh, it's a report, uh, about the backdrop of a, of community choice aggregators and direct access power purchase agreements. I, if I give the vernacular, it's a complicated nuance, a deep dive, uh, in the nature of electricity, uh, in the modern era. And it's a report that is long overdue, uh, despite the fact that it was precipitated a situationally by a PGNE bankruptcy. Speaker 10: 09:26 But it by no means limited to the question or issue of Pgd. It's a much deeper and broader question as PG and e lost the privilege to operate with a, basically a monopoly in large parts of the state. I don't know about that. I think they've, they've lost trust, public trust. I've lost trust with this administration. I was very pointed and I sent a letter, but 10 days ago a attaching very strong opinions about, uh, their new board of directors. Uh, the one, uh, that was rumored and ultimately the one that came out, I've been pointed about my expectations in terms of behavior. I said they misdirected and they've, they've been mistreated. The public, I said that at the press conference. So we've been very pointed and, and to the extent that they are committed to changing their ways, we'll wait and see. But, uh, they don't have much time to prove that. And meanwhile, we're moving aggressively to influence the, the bankruptcy proceedings, uh, and moreover broaden, uh, and influence as it relates to the larger issues of governing in this environment outside of PG and e's territory, including in southern California and substantively in the southern part of the state. San Diego, Speaker 1: 10:30 California, Governor Gavin Newsom speaking with capital public radio has been Adler. Thanks for listening to KPBS as San Diego news matters podcast. For more local stories, go to k pbs.org.