A bevy of new laws to bring in the New Year
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, JANUARY SECOND>>>> [A NEW YEAR, MEANS NEW LAWS GOING INTO EFFECT, WE DISCUSS SOME OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL ONES…]More on that next.########
THERE ARE A BUNCH OF NEW CALIFORNIA LAWS THAT WILL GO INTO EFFECT IN THIS NEW YEAR
THEY IMPACT EVERYDAY THINGS LIKE HOW FAST YOU CAN DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO ALLERGY WARNINGS ON RESTAURANT MENUS
ONE NEW LAW AUTHORIZES THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO DECREASE THE SPEED LIMIT ON HIGHWAYS BY FIVE MILES PER HOUR ...
WHERE AS ANOTHER NEW LAW ALLOWS LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO LOWER SCHOOL ZONES SPEED LIMITS BY FIVE MILES PER HOUR, GOING FROM 25 TO 20 M-P-H
THE NEXT BILL DEALS WITH DINING OUT AND MENU TRANSPARENCY
IT ADDS 'SESAME' TO THE LIST OF "MAJOR ALLERGENS"
SESAME JOINS EGGS, MILK, SHELLFISH, NUTS, WHEAT, PEANUTS AND SOYBEANS
AND STARTING JULY 1, ANY RESTAURANTS HAVING 20 OR MORE LOCATIONS MUST WARN CUSTOMERS ON THEIR MENU OF ANY MAJOR FOOD ALLERGENS ON THAT UPDATED LIST
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ONE THING ON THE RISE IN SAN DIEGO IN THIS NEW YEAR IS THE MINIMUM WAGE
IT NOW SITS AT SEVENTEEN SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS AN HOUR WHICH SURPASSES THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA'S RATE
THE BOOST APPLIES TO ANY EMPLOYEES WHO WORK AT LEAST TWO HOURS IN ONE OR MORE CALENDAR WEEKS OF THE YEAR, INSIDE THE CITY'S LIMITS
THE INCREASE IS PART OF THE CITY'S EARNED SICK LEAVE AND MINIMUM WAGE ORDINANCE WHICH WAS APPROVED BY VOTERS BACK IN TWENTY-SIXTEEN
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THE NEW YEAR HAS BROUGHT SOME RAIN IN WITH IT
FORECASTERS ARE SAYING TO EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS TODAY THAT COULD LINGER INTO THE WEEKEND
THEY SAY ONCE THE SYSTEM THAT STARTED ON WEDNESDAY EXITS THE REGION, MUCH OF THE COUNTY COULD SEE BETWEEN A HALF TO MORE THAN AN INCH OF RAIN DEPENDING ON YOUR ELEVATION AND LOCATION
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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A NEW STATE LAW THAT WENT INTO EFFECT YESTERDAY (THURSDAY JAN 1) LOOKS TO REDUCE THE DEMAND ON SEX TRAFFICKING.
REPORTER ANDREW DYER SAYS CITY LEADERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE CALLING IT A GAME CHANGER.
TRAFFICKING 1 (AD) (:51)
THE NEW LAW MAKES IT A FELONY TO SOLICIT SEX FROM MINORS.
SAN DIEGO MAYOR TODD GLORIA AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY SUMMER STEPHAN SPONSORED THE BILL, A-B 379.
GLORIA SAYS IT SHIFTS POLICE FOCUS TO THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE SEX TRADE.
TG: “FOR YEARS, OUR LAWS HAVE FOCUSED OVERWHELMINGLY ON THOSE BEING SOLD RATHER THAN THOSE DRIVING THE DEMAND. THIS BILL REFLECTS A SIMPLE REALITY. IF WE WANT TO REDUCE EXPLOITATION, WE MUST REDUCE DEMAND.”
STEPHAN SAYS BEFORE THE BILL IT WAS A MISDEMEANOR TO SOLICIT A SEX WORKER REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE.
SS: SO ANYONE OUT THERE WHO THINKS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GET A CITATION OR A MISDEMEANOR FOR BUYING A 17 YEAR OLD, A 16 YEAR OLD, A 15 YEAR OLD. THINK AGAIN.
THE BILL ALSO FUNDS RECOVERY PROGRAMS FOR TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.
ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS
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S-D-S-U IS BUILDING A NEW LAB IN MISSION VALLEY.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS ITS LOCATION IS IDEAL FOR STUDYING WATER ISSUES.
ONE WATER
The site of San Diego State University’s new lab is tucked away just under a Trolley overpass and steps away from the new SDSU Mission Valley river park.
Natalie Mladenov (muh-law-den-of) is a professor at SDSU leading the project.
She says the site is away from campus, but its surroundings make for a great learning environment.
ONEWATER 1 00:06
“There's a storm drain, there's bio filtration basins, allows us to see how that operates.”
The 480-square-foot lab will allow students and researchers to explore water systems in action – something Mladenov says has been missing in class.
ONEWATER 1 00:08
“We need to be working with real wastewater. We need to be looking at real water systems, at systems that treat stormwater.”
SDSU plans to host events for K through 12 schools at the lab.
The lab will be completed later this year. It’s funded by a $2.6 million grant from the San Diego River Conservancy. Tammy Murga, KPBS News.
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KING TIDES ARE DUE TO ARRIVE ON THE SAN DIEGO COASTLINE TODAY AND TOMORROW
A HIGH KING TIDE CAN ILLUSTRATE WHAT WE’LL BE FACING AS SEA LEVELS RISE, DUE TO TO GLOBAL WARNING
SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE HAS THIS STORY:
SEALEVEL 1 (tf) 1:00 …soq.
King tides occur when the gravitation force of the moon and the sun are at their greatest, pulling our oceans to extreme levels. Low tide is very low and high tide is very high. But rising sea levels will soon make this weekend’s high tide a daily occurrence. The California Coastal Commission says the high King Tides we see now will just be a normal high tide 25 years from now. Karin Zirk is the director of the group, Friends of Rose Creek, which flows into Mission Bay. She says that will be a threat to our man-made and natural environments.
8-10-44 “Places like Mission Bay high, which is right over here, are going to be at high flood risk. Especially if the high tide coincides with a lot of rain, they’re going to be under water.”
Zirk’s group is inviting volunteers to join them Saturday morning at Rose Creek to photograph water levels for a statewide report on King Tides. SOQ.
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AS 2025 HAS COME TO A CLOSE, THE KPBS NEWSROOM IS REVISITING SOME OF THE BIGGEST STORIES OF THE YEAR, FROM THE LOCAL IMPACTS OF FEDERAL POLICY TO A PLANE CRASH AND CITY BUDGET WOES.
THERE WAS A LOT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS YEAR.
WEB PRODUCER BRENDAN TUCCINARDI CREATED AN ONLINE QUIZ TO TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIGGEST SAN DIEGO STORIES OF 2025.
BRENDAN SHARES DETAILS ABOUT HOW THE QUIZ WORKS WITH ANCHOR DEBBIE CRUZ.
NEWSQUIZ 3:21 "...good luck"
Hi Brendan.
Hey Debbie.
So tell us about this quiz.
What can players expect?
So it's 10 multiple choice questions about some of the biggest stories of 2025.
for example, there's one about the city of San Diego's reformed ADU rules, and there's also some about the local impacts of federal funding freezes.
Do you want to try answering a question, Debbie?
OK, so, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in which country prompted tsunami warnings along the San Diego coast.
Oh, I'll go with Russia.
That's right.
All right.
In addition to the quiz, you wrote a year in review article.
How did you determine which stories to include?
So it's a pretty data-informed process.
I was able to run a report that shows me the most read stories on KPBS.org.
so in that sense, it's pretty cut and dry.
but the selections were also informed by understanding the community and choosing stories that had a lot of impact.
I think a good example of that is the Tierra Santa jet crash, which displaced several military families.
Can you talk about some of the podcast episodes that received a spotlight this year?
Yeah, so the most downloaded podcast episode of 2025 was one from Port of Entry.
it was called Special Report, An Unexpected Home.
it spotlights Laura Pabon, a staff member of one of Tijuana's busiest shelters, Casa del Migrante.
Laura shares her journey to Tijuana, discusses the pivotal moments that inspired her.
To help migrants and how she assists new arrivals in finding a new home.
On a more personal note, I chose to spotlight an episode of The Finest, which is KPBS's Arts and Culture podcast.
I moved to North Park in 2025, so I really enjoyed learning about, local neighborhood legend Lucky Wong and his one-man diner.
I walk by the old diner all the time and I smile.
and it was cool to learn about the city's effort to rename a street after him.
So Brendan, what made you come up with such a quiz?
I think the, the primary inspiration was NPR does their weekly news quiz, but also here at KPBS we're always trying to figure out ways to help people kind of interact with our content and understand the news.
we do the every election, we have a candidate quiz where people can fill out, a questionnaire and get matched with the candidate that matches their beliefs the most.
and also we built the KPBS budget challenge, which allowed users to kind of build their own city budget and make the tough decisions in a deficit year.
Kind of makes learning fun, right?
Yeah, exactly.
All right.
Has any of the staff taken this test?
no, but I sent it to my like friend group chat.
And no one was able to get 100%, so I guess it's pretty hard.
What's the highest score someone scored?
The highest was 7 out of 10.
, that's not bad.
Yeah, not bad.
Well, good.
So where can people find the quiz?
You can find it online at KPBS.org/quiz2025.
Thank you, Brandon.
I've been speaking with Brendan Tuccinardi, the creator of an online quiz to test your knowledge of the biggest San Diego stories of 2025.
Thanks, Debbie, and good luck.
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CINEMA JUNKIE BETH ACCOMANDO SAYS TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SOMETHING BOLD AT SAN DIEGO’S LAST ART HOUSE CINEMA. SHE RECOMMENDS RESURRECTION, OPENING TODAY (Friday) AT DIGITAL GYM CINEMA.
RESURRECTION (ba) 1:16 SOQ
Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan is not for anyone who’s in a rush or needs everything explained by the final fade out. He makes films that you must surrender to while drinking in their intoxicating imagery. His latest, Resurrection, had its west coast premiere at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and it defies description.
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It begins like a silent film with title cards and no dialogue. People have stopped dreaming to obtain immortality, but a dangerous creature referred to as The Deliriant continues to dream, traveling through history, and warping the fabric of time. We experience five dreams, each defined by a different sense and cinematic style. Bi ties The Deliriant directly to the medium of film, making Resurrection a gorgeous homage to the power of cinema.
Resurrection has no conventional plot but instead explores what makes us human, asking if humanity can survive without dreams and imagination. As in his previous film Long Day’s Journey into Night, he orchestrates a stunning extended shot to mesmerize viewers while weaving the threads of the story into a final surge of bittersweet emotions. Resurrection is cinema at its most breathtaking.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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IT IS A RAINY NEW YEARS WEEKEND IN SAN DIEGO, AND WE HAVE SOME OTHER WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS FOR YOU AND YOURS TO TRY AND STAY DRY...
GOING ALL WEEKEND LONG IS THE SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW
THAT'S HAPPENING AT THE SAN DIEGO CONVENTION CENTER ON HARBOR DRIVE AND ATTRACTS CAR ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL KINDS TO GATHER AND SEE AN ARRAY OF DIFFERENT VEHICLES
THE SHOW KICKED THINGS OFF YESTERDAY AND RUNS THROUGH SUNDAY
ON SATURDAY, YOU AND THE KIDDOS CAN STAY INSIDE AND CATCH A MOVIE AS LIBERTY STATION'S 'THE LOT' IS OFFERING THEIR '3 MOVIE TICKETS FOR SIX DOLLARS' DEAL
THIS WEEKEND THE OFFER ONLY APPLIES TO MORNING SHOWTIMES OF ANGRY BIRDS !
YOU CAN CHECK LIBERTY STATION DOT COM FOR MORE INFO
SUNDAY IS RESERVED FOR SKATE-BIRDING!
IT'S AN EVENT THAT CELEBRATES BIRDING AND SKATEBOARDING!
ATTENDEES WILL CRUISE THROUGH THE SKATE PARK AT ROBB FIELD FOR ONE HOUR WHILE ALSO LEARNING TO IDENTIFY SOME LOCAL BIRD SPECIES
YOU CAN VISIT THE SAN DIEGO BIRD ALLIANCE’S EVENT CALENDAR FOR MORE INFO
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO THIS WEEKEND, ENJOY!
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth and hosted and produced by me, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
