Tens of thousands of people protested across San Diego County Saturday, hear what one organizer had to say about it. And a UCSD physician and former CDC adviser says some of the agency’s new vaccine advisers — including one linked to an anti-vaccine group — could cost lives. Then, the city is now working with a nonprofit to provide life-saving drugs to people overdosing on opiods. Finally, Imperial County is considering a new plan on how to spend millions generated from the lithium-mining industry — written only in English. Hear how a new state law could force local governments to provide information in Spanish as well.
60,000 hit San Diego streets in ‘No Kings’ protest
June 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
Good Morning, I’m Andrew Dyer, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, June 16th.
Doctors are warning that changes to C-D-C advisory board could put lives at risk
Hear from one of them next. But first... the headlines….
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TOOK TO THE STREETS IN SAN DIEGO SATURDAY, ONE OF HUNDREDS OF NO KINGS PROTESTS NATIONWIDE.
WENDY GELERNETER HELPED ORGANIZE THE SAN DIEGO EVENT.
We organize this because San Diegans from all walks of life are so concerned about the cruelty and the corruption and the authoritarianism of the regime and we want to preserve our democracy. We want to preserve our rights. We want to stop having people kidnapped off the streets.
SAN DIEGO POLICE GUIDED THE CROWDS NEAR THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AS THEY MARCHED..
THEY ESTIMATE THAT AROUND 60,000 PEOPLE SHOWED UP.
AT LEAST 12 DIFFERENT PROTESTS TOOK PLACE THROUGHOUT SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
The San Diego City Council will vote on reforms to the city’s a-d-u rules this afternoon.
The ADU bonus program has led to hundreds of new homes getting built in single-family neighborhoods that were previously off-limits to growth.
Many neighbors see large ADU projects as a burden that comes with more traffic and less privacy.
Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing a rollback of the ADU bonus program mainly in neighborhoods with low population density….
…And along canyons and cul-de-sacs because of fire evacuation concerns.
Today is the last day to register to get a mail in ballot for the District 1 county supervisor election.
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann is running against Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre to fill Supervisor Nora Vargas’s former seat.
The person elected will represent the South Bay on the county board of supervisors.
If you don’t register for a mail in ballot today, to vote in the election you’ll need to go to a vote center in the district between June 21st and July 1st - election day.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.
Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
LAST WEEK, HEALTH SECRETARY ROBERT KENNEDY JR. DISMISSED THE C-D-C’S VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND NAMED NEW MEMBERS. A FORMER CDC ADVISOR TELLS HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO THE CHANGES COULD PUT LIVES AT RISK.
Dr. Mark Sawyer is a pediatric infectious disease specialist with UC San Diego Health. He was a member of the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices for five years, the group that helps set vaccine recommendations nationwide.
“The committee is very carefully formulated. They're vetted. Their conflicts of interest are looked at. And to scrap all that and suddenly put in brand new people, who, some of whom look like have not had any vaccine experience, is just crazy.”
Sawyer says removing vaccine experts will put public health at risk. One of the new appointees is tied to what he describes as an anti-vaccine group.
“I'm afraid that this political experiment is going way too far and that people are going to suffer as a result.”
Kennedy called his decision quote “a major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines.”
“The germs, the bacteria, and the viruses out there infect people regardless of what their political views are.”
Sawyer says he’s lost confidence in federal agencies like the CDC to give clear vaccine guidance. He encourages families to speak with their doctors directly.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO HAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH A LOCAL NON-PROFIT TO PROVIDE NALOXONE IN MORE PLACES THROUGHOUT THE CITY. SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE TALKS ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF OPIOID OVERDOSE AND THE CAMPAIGN TO STOP IT.
A library is a community gathering spot for lots of people and some of them suffer from opioid addiction. That’s why the first step in a program to hand out the overdose reversal medication Naloxone began at San Diego’s Linda Vista Branch Library. City Councilman Raul Campillo was there to promote it, and he said he had a good reason.
“Eleven years ago my brother overdosed and died from an opioid addiction. And it’s people like him that we’re trying to serve, so that families like theirs, families like mine don’t have to go through that again.”
Naloxone, also called Narcan, is available in a small nasal spray bottle. When an overdose is underway, Naloxone knocks an opioid like fentanyl off the opioid receptor sites in your brain. San Diego is partnering with the non-profit Harm Reduction Coalition. Thomas Fudge, KPBS News.
A NEW CALIFORNIA BILL COULD FORCE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN IMPERIAL COUNTY TO START TRANSLATING THEIR AGENDAS INTO SPANISH. IMPERIAL VALLEY REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS THE LACK OF TRANSLATION HAS KEPT MANY COUNTY RESIDENTS FROM FULLY PARTICIPATING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.
Last September, dozens of speakers gathered at the Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting in El Centro. They were there to discuss the county’s plan to spend future tax dollars from the lithium industry. One of the major conversations happening in the county.
But some of the speakers had something else they wanted to talk about.
There's no Spanish translation of the updated plan. We cannot continue to push aside Spanish speaking residents, especially when their health and livelihoods are at stake
Fernanda Vega is with the IV Equity and Justice Coalition. She pointed out that the county has only published its spending plan in English … meaning many residents were locked out of the discussion.
A lack of translation is a lack of transparency. How are our community supposed to fully engage when they cannot access the most basic information?
Translation and interpretation services in local government meetings vary widely across the state. But the lack of Spanish translation in Imperial County is especially significant.
Across the county, three quarters of residents speak Spanish at home. And around a quarter of them also don’t speak English fluently.
There's no reason we can't have dynamic multilingual conversation across the state and the legislature and in local government even if we're not a big city.
Raul Ureña is the former mayor of Calexico, the county’s second-largest city. Where 9 in 10 of residents speak Spanish at home … and more than half don’t speak English fluently.
Especially in a city where Spanish is not the minority language. It is the majority language. The overwhelming majority language.
Calexico does offer some live interpretation during their City Council meetings. But it is one of many local governments statewide that don’t translate many key documents.
That means a lot of residents have a harder time holding their elected officials accountable.
In 2022, a state audit found that previous elected officials in Calexico had been overspending, creating an ongoing financial crisis. One of the causes, the audit said, was Calexico only publishes its key budget documents in English.
To have a check on government corruption and to have transparency in the finances. The state government recommended that at least the budget be translated so that the population could know where their money was being spent.
Calexico is only one example. The Imperial County registrar of voters has been accused of violating federal voting rights law by not translating key election documents. The Board of Supervisors, the most influential body in the county, has also faced criticism for holding English-only meetings.
Secretary, please read Senate Bill 707 by Senator Durazo. An act relating to local government.
Now though, a new state bill could push the County of Imperial and some cities to do more. State Senator María Durazo of Los Angeles is the bill’s author.
This bill allows local governments to serve their communities better and increases the public's access to meetings, especially vulnerable communities
The bill, SB 707, would strengthen parts of the state’s open meetings law. Including requiring certain counties and larger cities to provide translated versions of their meeting agendas. Which list major decisions and policies that elected officials are planning to vote on.
Those requirements would apply to the Imperial County Board of Supervisors. And also appear to apply to the cities of Calexico and El Centro.
Imperial County officials are pushing back though. Along with several other counties across the state. At the Board of Supervisors’ meeting last week, the county’s assistant CEO Rebecca Terrazas-Baxter pointed out that the bill didn’t include any state funding to cover the costs.
“It presents substantial costs and operational challenges for the county to implement, especially counties that are small, dealing with budget concerns as well.”
Others though are more hopeful about the changes the bill might bring. Like Vega, the advocate who attended the county lithium hearings.
When she spoke up back in September, Vega says she was trying to speak up for everyone who felt shut out. Including her own parents. Who felt like they couldn’t take part because of the lack of translation.
That's what they've told us. You know, they've told us like it's in English like I don't want to be in a space where I don't understand and I'm looking all confused.
Vega thinks it could make a big difference for people like her parents.
By literally just translating a meeting, you're already saying you're invited, you're important. We care about what you have to say.
The California Senate passed the bill early this month. It’s now in the state Assembly.
Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. For your next listen, check out the KPBS Midday Edition podcast this afternoon. They’re talking about your rights as a protester. I’m Andrew Dyer. Thanks for listening and have a great Monday.