After 10 Years And $741 Million, Rebuilt San Ysidro Port Of Entry Is Complete And More Local News
Speaker 1: 00:00 It's Wednesday, December 18th I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego news matters from KPBS coming up. It's been a long time coming, but work at the Santa Seadrill port of entry is finally done and a local highschooler wants the County to make the bus pass program free for students. That and more San Diego news stories coming up right after the break. Speaker 2: 00:29 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 00:33 10 years and $741 million later, officials for both sides of the border celebrated the rebuilding of the Santa cede report of entry. Tuesday morning, KPBS reporter max Riverland Adler was at the border as they cut the ribbon on the expansion of the busiest land border crossing in the Western hemisphere. Speaker 3: 00:51 It took a decade and persistent by partisan support in Congress, but work at the Santa Seadrill port of entry is finally done. The improvements include 62 northbound inspection lanes and a highway realignment that dramatically expands the number of cars that can head South that should spare Santa's seizure from punishing backups. The project included a new transit center and the rehabilitation of the historic customs house newly installed us ambassador to Mexico. Christopher Lando spoke about the importance of the relationship between the U S and Mexico now exemplified by the new border facility. 100,000 crossings a day are more than a statistic. They represent the personal stories of Mexicans and Americans tied to both countries through business culture and family. The San Diego association of governments projects that vehicle traffic at the border will increase 87% by the year 2030 in Santa CGO max driveline, Adler, K PBS news, Speaker 1: 01:47 some K through 12th grade students in San Diego take public transportation every day to get to school. KPBS education reporter Joe Hong rode the bus with a high schooler who wants the County to make the bus pass program free for students. Speaker 4: 02:02 Hoover high school junior Diana free is, catches the public bus at six 45 every morning to get school freezes. Hoping the metropolitan transit system board will vote to put a half cent sales tax increase on next year's ballot to fund free bus passes for students up to 24 years old. Speaker 5: 02:18 They allow us to get to school, to internships, and it just overall goes through this sense of independence Speaker 4: 02:27 County supervisor and MTS board chairman Nathan Fletcher said he would support putting the sales tax increase on the ballot. The board will vote next spring to put the measure on the November ballot. Joe Hong K PBS news, Speaker 1: 02:38 San Diego city council members, Tuesday approved reforms that will help churches build affordable housing on their parking lot. KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says, faith communities support the move. Speaker 3: 02:51 Churches and other public gathering spaces are required to keep a certain number of parking spots based on their size. The update reduces those parking minimums Speaker 6: 03:00 and streamlines the approval process for housing on religious land. Jonathan do little senior pastor at Claremont Lutheran church told the council the new rules would make a real impact. Speaker 7: 03:11 The whole idea of this is for churches to use their resources to make a difference for our communities. It's churches realizing that there are real issues with affordable housing and our neighbors and the members of our congregation needs something to change. Speaker 6: 03:25 The changes were inspired by a group of housing advocates calling themselves Giggy. That stands for yes in God's backyard. Andrew Bowen KPBS news Speaker 1: 03:34 of the 130,000 homeless people in California about 90,000 have no shelter and are sleeping in cars, tents or in the elements. The us Supreme court will not hear an appeal of a decision that says homeless people are legally allowed to camp in public places when there are no shelter spaces available. Bob Moffitt with Capitol public radio in Sacramento reports Speaker 8: 03:57 the Supreme court decided not to review the ninth circuit court's ruling and Martin V Boise. Darrell Steinberg is the mayor of Sacramento and co-chairs. Governor Gavin Newsome's homeless task force. Steinberg says the problem exists regardless of the court's opinions. He says he wants more housing shelters and a new state law that allows government to move homeless people into housing, even if it's against their will. Speaker 6: 04:18 The world is changing when it comes to renewable energy because we require the result that we all know is necessary when it comes to homelessness. Everything we do is voluntary. Speaker 8: 04:31 The court decision is the right one. According to homeless rights attorney Mark Marin, he says, cities and counties can't rely on law enforcement to address homelessness. Speaker 7: 04:39 Now, they're going to have to really deal with shelter issues, recognizing that otherwise homeless people are going to be all over and in greater numbers than we've ever seen before. Speaker 8: 04:48 Cities and Yuba and Sutter counties and the counties themselves recently passed no camping ordinances along rivers to stop homeless people from damaging the levies and polluting the water. Marin says, lawsuits against those new laws are likely. I'm Bob Moffitt in Sacramento.
