AG Rob Bonta sues over Rady Children’s Hospital ending gender-affirming care
<<<HEADLINES>>>
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson … it’s TUESDAY, FEBRUARY THIRD>>> {A-G ROB BONTA SUES RADY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OVER ENDING GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE…]More on that next. But first... the headlines…#######
THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL YESTERDAY EVENING, VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO PASS A RESOLUTION THAT PUSHES BACK ON ICE TACTICS
COUNCIL MEMBER MARNI VON-WILPERT BROUGHT THE RESOLUTION FORWARD
THE RESOLUTION OPPOSES WHAT HER OFFICE SAYS IS “UNNECESSARILY AGGRESSIVE AND EXCESSIVE TACTICS BY FEDERAL AGENTS” FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
SHE SAYS ICE OPERATIONS HAVE INSTILLED FEAR IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
ICERESOLUTION 2A (:16)
“When federal agents create fear in our neighborhoods,when they target people based on how they look or sound, when they appear driven by quotas or financial incentives to arrest people on our streets … it damages that vital trust in our community and makes us all less safe.”
THE RESOLUTION CALLS ON SAN DIEGO CITY ATTORNEY HEATHER FERBERT TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION BY WAY OF FILING AN AMICUS BRIEF ON BEHALF OF THE CITY IN SUPPORT OF STATES LIKE MINNESOTA AND ILLINOIS AND LAWSUITS THEY CURRENTLY HAVE AGAINST D-H-S
THOSE LAWSUITS WERE FILED LAST MONTH AND CHALLENGE THE CURRENT IMMIGRANT ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TAKING PLACE UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
#######
JUSTIN ROSE ON SUNDAY WALKED AWAY AS WINNER
OF THE FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN
THE PROFESSIONAL GOLF TOURNAMENT TAKES PLACE AT THE TORREY PINES GOLF COURSE IN LA JOLLA
THE P-G-A TOUR SAYS THAT HEADING INTO THE FINAL DAY, THE ONLY
THING THAT ROSE WAS IN COMPETITION WITH ... WAS THE RECORD BOOKS
WELL, JUSTIN WAS ABLE TO BEAT THAT BY COMING IN AT 23 UNDER
PAR AND SETTING A NEW TOURNAMENT RECORD
P-G-A SAYS ROSE IS THE FIRST WIRE-TO-WIRE WINNER AT TORREY
PINES IN MORE THAN 70 YEARS
########
OUR WARM WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS THAT TEMPERATURES WILL BE TEN T0 20 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE NEAR THE COASTS AND IN OUR VALLEY AREAS
THAT MEANS TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AS HIGH AS 85 DEGREES NEAR THE COAST TOMORROW
WHILE INLAND AREAS COULD GET UP TO 88 DEGREES
THERE WILL ALSO BE ELEVATED SURF AND HIGH TIDES TODAY
THAT COULD CAUSE SOME MINOR COASTAL FLOODING
WEAK TO MODERATE SANTA ANA WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TOMORROW AND THURSDAY
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
<<<UNDERWRITING BREAK>>
######
<<<MUSIC BUMP INTO A BLOCK>>
#########
IN A NEW LAWSUIT…CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA SAYS RADY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL’S DECISION TO END ITS GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE PROGRAM IS ILLEGAL.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THE HOSPITAL PLANS TO STOP PROVIDING THAT CARE STARTING THIS FRIDAY.
---
RADYSUIT 1 trt: 1:05 SOQ
California Attorney General Rob Bonta says Rady Children’s Hospital is required to maintain gender-affirming care through 20-34 and can not end the services without approval from the STATE. Bonta filed the lawsuit against the hospital on Friday. He argues Rady’s decision violates California law and legally binding conditions tied to the hospital’s merger with Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
MEGAN NOOR
TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER
00:04:17:11 - 00:04:32:06
The Attorney General has asked for an injunction or a court order instructing Rady Children's to continue providing care while the lawsuit is pending.
Megan Noor is an attorney at Transgender Law Center. She says hospitals across the country are reacting to pressure from the Trump administration
MEGAN NOOR
00:08:12:22 - 00:08:32:17
All that's happened so far have been subpoenas and threats towards funding, but no concrete action has actually been taken, and so the compliance by the hospital systems is preemptive at this point.
In a statement, Rady Children’s Hospital says it is reviewing the lawsuit.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
#########
IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, BLACK DEFENDANTS ARE MORE LIKELY THAN WHITE DEFENDANTS TO FACE CHARGES THAT CAN LEAD TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, EVEN FOR THE SAME CRIME.
IN PART ONE OF THIS TWO-PART SERIES, REPORTER KATIE HYSON SPEAKS WITH A FAMILY WHOSE LIVES ARE BEING SHAPED BY THAT REALITY.
SPECIALS PT 1 trt 4:51 SOQ
CHA_4919_01.MOV 00;01;31;14 - 00;01;34;28
SOT :06 It's unfortunate how everything took place. It was a regular day.
On May 14, 2022, Britny and James Calloway brought their 10-month-old son to El Toyon park in National City.
CG: BRITNY CALLOWAY / WIFE
CHA_4919_01.MOV 00;02;06;28 - 00;02;17;12
SOT :11 It was a family barbecue. So we were there, going there for a family event, a family gathering, and the events took a turn.
James Calloway describes himself as an ex-gang-member. Before that day, his last conviction had been in 2019.
He says he turned his life around. Started a trucking company.
He spoke with me from a county jail. I took his video call from his toddler’s iPad.
CG: JAMES CALLOWAY / DEFENDANT
CHA_4397_01.MOV 00;34;52;03 - 00;34;56;19
SOT :__ My day to day life was going to work, driving trucks, coming home and being a dad.
According to court documents, Caleb Stacy was another member of Calloway’s former gang. He was 28.
While the Calloways were at the park, Stacy left his job and rode his motorcycle there.
Stacy called James Calloway over and pulled two guns on him. He’d heard rumors that Britny was a snitch.
Calloway says Stacy threatened to kill him, Britny, and their baby.
Others managed to talk Stacy down. He drove his motorcycle away and stopped nearby.
CHA_4397_01.MOV 00;36;25;03 - 00;36;28;01
SOT :03 What was I supposed to do besides what I did?
Calloway ran to his car, drove up to Stacy, and shot him dead.
CHA_4397_01.MOV 00;36;38;01 - 00;36;47;00
SOT :12 Men have an obligation that they do not ask for, and that is protecting your family. And that is taught and instilled upon us as kids.
Britny Calloway says the eventual charges surprised them.
CHA_4919_01.MOV 00;04;07;09 - 00;04;19;09
SOT :12 When we heard that it was first degree, it was just like it was a shock, because how, like how and why, this is at most self-defense or involuntary.
The first-degree murder charge isn’t the reason Calloway is facing life without parole.
If he had walked up to Stacy and shot him, he might have the chance at parole.
But because he fired from a vehicle, he was sentenced to die in prison.
It’s one of the “special circumstances” in California law that can lead to life without parole.
The list is a large patchwork: If the murder was committed for money. If the victim was a firefighter. If the defendant used poison. Or wrecked a train.
The list was created in 19-77 as a way to limit who could receive the death penalty and life without parole to the “worst of the worst,” after the Supreme Court said they were being given too randomly.
But ballot measures kept expanding the list by popular demand.
A 19-78 voter guide reads: “If Charles Manson were to order his family of drug-crazed killers to slaughter your family, Manson would not receive the death penalty.” That proposition passed. More than doubling the list.
The list got so long that by the ‘90s, nearly all first-degree murders were eligible for special circumstances in California.
Calloway’s special circumstance — shooting from a vehicle — was added in 19-96 to combat drive-by gang shootings.
All this history is now bearing down on Calloway.
CHA_4937_01.MOV 00;43;51;07 - 00;43;58;19
SOT :13 It's been extremely hard. Just thinking about not being able to hold my son. Not being able to be a father.
Britny Calloway is now raising five children on her own.
She started working overnight shifts at a hospital.
She’s almost 9 months pregnant. Her second surrogacy pregnancy to make ends meet since James was incarcerated.
Their baby is now 4. She shows him pictures of his father. Tells him “That’s your dad.” Repeats it over and over like a flashcard, hoping it will stick.
CHA_4919_01.MOV 00;05;40;23 - 00;05;51;08
SOT :15 He hasn't held our son in years. I haven't touched him or hugged him or anything in years.
It’s entirely up to the District Attorney whether to charge special circumstances in a case.
Britny Calloway believes everything would be different if her husband weren’t Black.
CHA_4919_01.MOV 00;06;30;27 - 00;06;32;28
SOT :02 If he was a white man, this wouldn’t happen.
James Calloway filed a motion requesting resentencing based on racial bias in his case. His hearing is in April.
His lawyer plans to bring up the District Attorney’s own data.
It shows not only a racial gap in who receives special circumstance charges.
But that after Summer Stephan became the district attorney in 20-17 — it got wider.
That’s part two, tomorrow.
Katie Hyson, KPBS News
#########
SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAS CUT TIES WITH A TOP OFFICIAL IN ITS DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES.
REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SAYS RACHAEL BORRELLI’S DEPARTURE COMES AFTER KPBS UNCOVERED AN OBSCENE MESSAGE SHE SENT REGARDING ANIMALS IN THE COUNTY’S CARE.
BORRELLI 1 (1:10) SOQ
A San Diego county official has confirmed that Rachael Borrelli is no longer employed by the county.
Borrelli was the second in command at the Department of Animal Services. But she went on leave in September just as KPBS uncovered the crude voice message she sent in 2024 regarding dogs at the county’s Carlsbad shelter.
Borrelli SOT
“I’m so sick of us keeping sh** dogs that aren’t going to get adopted. That’s why we’re overcrowded. Call me heartless but I’m also realistic.”
KPBS spoke with former volunteers and staff who questioned Borrelli’s decisions on dog euthanasias.
Molly Higgins is a former Carlsbad shelter volunteer.
Higgins SOT
“It was a small measure of justice, for sure, for all the animals, innocent animals, especially dogs, who died, who were euthanized.”
Borrelli sent an apology letter to department leadership last year. On Monday she declined a KPBS interview request.
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
#########
THE PROPOSAL THAT WOULD HAVE RAISED AN ANNUAL TAX ON EMPTY SECOND HOMES AND VACATION RENTALS HAS FAILED.
FOR OUR WEEKLY WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO’S SCOTT LEWIS SAYS THE DEBATE OVER HOUSING FOR VISITORS VERSUS RESIDENTS IS NOT OVER YET.
SECONDHOMES (vosd) TRT 1:13 SOQ “why it matters”
_______________
There were two very different world views on display when the proposal died at a City Council committee hearing.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said his main hope was that the tax would tip the balance for property owners and prompt them to sell.
That created a political bridge between him and people who often oppose him – people worried about their neighborhoods getting taken over by short term rentals, especially near the coast.
The opposition – led in part by Councilmember Raul Campillo – came from those supporting people who rent out to vacationers.
But in the end, the vote to watch was Councilmember Kent Lee. He said the tax’s revenue outcomes were too uncertain. It may hurt the city’s bottom line. And he would not support it. But he said the issue is not over.
"I just want to note that my position on this specific measure does not take away from my belief that short term rentals do have an impact on local housing. And I look forward to continuing the critical discussions necessary to address housing capacity, housing stock and housing affordability on that front."
One of the groups who opposed it was the laborers union. The union wants to put a sales tax on the ballot mostly for infrastructure. They thought the vacation rental tax would hurt its chances.
For voice of San Diego, I’m Scott Lewis and that’s why it matters.
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
