An assembly bill looks to help trans people forced out of the military
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Headline: An assembly bill looks to help trans people forced out of the military
Description: First, an assembly bill is looking to help trans people forced out of the military. Then, funding is almost out for a program using deep ocean robots to monitor climate change and marine health. Next, as police departments increasingly use drones in their police work, so does the scrutiny around them. And, some weekend events that you and yours can take part in.
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, AUGUST 28TH>>>> [ AN ASSEMBLY BILL IS TRYING TO HELP TRANS PEOPLE FORCED OUT OF THE MILITARY ]More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
AN ALMOST FOUR MILLION DOLLAR GRANT FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA WILL HELP S-D-S-U CREATE A NATIONAL SECURITY HUB INCUBATOR
THE NEWS WAS ANNOUNCED BY GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM EARLIER THIS WEEK (WEDNESDAY)…
SDSU SAYS THE HUB WILL SUPPORT OUR REGION’S NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRY WITH A STARTUP ACCELERATOR, INVESTMENT CAPITAL AND OTHER STRATEGIES
THE HUB WILL INITIALLY BE BASED IN SDSU’S DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. ONCE SDSU’S MISSION VALLEY LOCATION IS COMPLETED IT WILL RELOCATE THERE
THE PROJECT’S LEADERS ANTICIPATE IT WILL CREATE AROUND 200 JOBS
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A 150 MILLION DOLLAR MODERNIZATION EFFORT IS ON SCHEDULE FOR THE USS BOXER ONCE IT RETURNS TO NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO
THIS INCLUDES MAINTENANCE AND ANY NEEDED REPAIRS
DEFENSE COMPANY, BAE SYSTEMS WILL BE DOING THE WORK
IT SAYS IF ALL OPTIONS ARE EXERCISED THE COST COULD INCREASE TO 180 MILLION DOLLARS
THE BOXER IS AN AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP DESIGNED TO TRANSPORT MARINES, THEIR AIRCRAFT AND LANDING CRAFT, VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT
THE SAN DIEGO BASED-SHIP IS THE SIXTH U-S NAVY SHIP TO BE NAMED THE BOXER. THE NAME DATES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE WAR OF 1812
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FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2016, THE SD-CCU POINSETTIA BOWL IS BACK!
THINGS KICK OFF AT 4:30 ON WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 23RD AT SNAPDRAGON STADIUM
THE GAME PAIRS A PAC-12 TEAM AGAINST AN OPPONENT FROM EITHER THE ACC, BIG TEN OR BIG 12 CONFERENCE
BACK IN THE 50’S … THE POINSETTIA BOWL HAD A BRIEF RUN AT BALBOA STADIUM, THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
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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ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DID WHEN HE RETURNED TO OFFICE WAS REINSTATE A BAN ON TRANS PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY.
MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER HAS THE LATEST ON HOW CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS ARE TRYING TO ASSIST THOSE FORCED OUT.
AB1775 1 (ad) (:49) SOQ
Assembly Bill 17-75 would expand some state veteran benefit programs to certain trans service members forced out of the military.
San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward – a Democrat – sponsored the bill.
CW: We will have a lot of constituents that are facing uncertainty right now and need to know that California is gonna step up for them.
Katherine Koehlmoos served as a captain in the Army. She’s a board member of SPARTA Pride, an advocacy group for trans service members and veterans.
She says even though the state can’t change federal policy, the impact of legislation like this helps.
KK: It makes me feel that, you know, we have people at the highest levels who are actively thinking about us and looking out for us
The bill passed the state legislature with bipartisan support. It’s now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
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SCIENTISTS IN SAN DIEGO HAVE BEEN BUILDING ROBOTS THAT MONITOR THE DEEP OCEAN. A BRANCH OF THAT GLOBAL NETWORK SPECIALIZES IN TRACKING CLIMATE CHANGE AND MARINE HEALTH. ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THAT PROGRAM IS ABOUT TO RUN OUT.
ARGO TRT 4:29 SOQ
Underwater robot parts are everywhere in this Scripps Institution of Oceanography lab.
*Nat* “Hello, I’ve got company. Cool.”
Sarah Purkey is an oceanographer.
*Nat* Of drilling and banging
And her team builds the robots from scratch here.
When they’re put together, they are about as tall as I am.
They’re called BioGeoChemical Argo floats. Taylor Wirth is one of the engineers who builds them.
ARGO 1a 00:12
“It has the biology, the geology, chemistry kind of wrapped up into one thing. And that's what these floats are kind of aim to do. Kind of a one-stop shop of measuring everything that we can possibly measure in the ocean.”
He says they’re like doctors checking the ocean’s health.
ARGO 1b 00:07
“Full health test. Check up everything. And we this is kind of the, you know, first time we've been able to get global snapshots.”
About 500 of them are checking up on the world’s oceans right now.
Purkey says the robotic floats are deployed by ships. And then, they do their own thing.
ARGO 1c 00:11
“They’re just buoyancy driven. So, it just has an external balloon that inflates and deflates and allows it to go up and down. It has a little bit of electronics, and then it has a bunch of D-cell batteries.”
A float can live up to five years in the ocean. With their sensors, they can observe more than a mile below the surface. Every ten days, they come back up and use their antennas to transmit data via satellites.
The floats can measure oxygen, chlorophyll and nutrients. They also measure carbon.
ARGO 1d 00:12
“That's going to help us understand how much residual carbon is left in the atmosphere. And we need to know that number in order to understand and predict how the Earth will continue to warm up.”
Scientists around the world use data from floats to do their work. Including Jennifer McWhorter at the University of Miami. Data from a float offered her a new perspective on a hurricane’s effect on marine life.
ARGO 1e 00:10
“We saw increases in oxygen, the use of nitrate. We measured, lots of different things surrounding this event to show excitement at the base of the food web.”
She says she’s just starting to understand the impacts of extreme weather on ocean ecosystems.
ARGO 1f 00:11
“We really need to keep those floats out there so we can study these important changes for ecosystems, for fisheries.”
But Scripps researchers say the program is about to end.
ARGO 1g 00:05
“We are screeching to a halt in October or November.”
That’s Lynne Talley. She’s an oceanographer at Scripps. Her job is to identify remote areas of the ocean where floats can be deployed.
*Nat* “My goal was to make sure that each of those biomes has had a float in it, and each ocean had one.”
She says a 53 million dollar federal grant expires this fall.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had looked into adding the program to its ocean observing budget.
But the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the agency’s budget.
ARGO 1h 00:17
“They just ripped into NOAA. There was no hope that NOAA at that point could be coming up with any more money for anything because they fired 10,000 people, including the people that we work with the most closely.”
In a statement, NOAA said it’s unable to support the program’s future.
By Scripps calculations, the program costs taxpayers around 10 cents a year. It's relatively inexpensive compared to ships and satellites.
But, Purkey says, the cost of losing the program will be greater.
ARGO 1i 00:09
“If we take away that network. If we don't maintain it, you don't only lose the science, but you lose your ability to see what's coming.”
And what’s coming this year is the potential for a super El Niño. Without funding, scientists will lose one way to measure how extreme events like these are changing marine ecosystems.
Hundreds of floats will stop collecting data as their batteries die. Talley remains optimistic.
ARGO 1j 00:17
“Our stopgap is that other countries expand. The U.S. will clearly lose its position. But I don’t care at this point. I want this observing system to survive.”
Talley says Scripps is looking to Congress and philanthropic organizations to continue the program. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
KPBS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTER CARLY KAY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY
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POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE INCREASINGLY USING DRONES AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT TOOL. BUT THERE ARE ALSO CONCERNS ABOUT PRIVACY.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN TAKES A LOOK AT THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE’S TEST PROGRAM.
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OSIDEDRONEFOLO 1 SOQ :53
In March, a young man assaulted a woman in downtown Oceanside. He then climbed on a bus. Police said that without the drone, they would not have been able to follow him and arrest him.
Police Lt. Michael Provence says that’s one of the many success cases.
SOT
“I believe that we would not have had that subject arrested that night, and we would have seen another person assaulted by their activity until he was caught.”
That’s why the Oceanside Police Department wants the program to be permanent. It is also asking for a second drone to cover the east side of the city.
Seth Hall is with the group San Diego Privacy; he says police using drones raises privacy concerns.
“There's not going to be anything you can do about seeing those drones. So right away, it appears to a lot of people as being kind of an invasion of their privacy.”
Oceanside Police are presenting their case to the city council next month, where the public will have a chance to weigh in.
The program costs an estimated 100-thousand dollars. AN/KPBS.
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SANDAG BROKE GROUND THIS WEEK ON TWO PROJECTS IN THE MID-CITY AREA.
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER JAKE GOTTA SAYS FRESH BIKE LANES AND TRAFFIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS ARE COMING.
CC AVENUES (jg/qo) [0:56] SOQ
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sandag is building what they call complete streets on orange and central avenue. it’s part of a larger effort to connect the mid city and north park neighborhoods with safe bike routes.
council president joe lacava is also vice chair of the sandag board. he explained why they’re called complete streets
joe lacava, san diego city council (d1)
“the projects range from pavement and pothole repairs, to buffered and separated bike lanes, to enhanced sidewalks for pedestrians, all key to improving safety, accessibility and mobility for all the users on that roadway.”
the projects will also add roundabouts, raised crosswalks, and other features that slow down traffic.
council member sean elo rivera who represents this area said these projects will make the neighborhood more walkable and enjoyable for local residents.
sean elo-rivera, san diego city council (d9)
“when we make it easier for communities to connect with one another, when we make it safer for them to connect with one another, we're helping build community.”
these two projects will cost roughly 21 million dollars and should be complete by 2028
jake gotta, kpbs news
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THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION SD RECOMMENDS ALL PARENTS SIGN THEIR CHILDREN UP FOR A LIBRARY CARD.
ARTS REPORTER AUDY MCAFEE HAS MORE ON WHAT A LIBRARY CARD CAN OFFER.
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LIBRARYBTS (1:18) SOQ
Everyone knows the library is a place to check out books and maybe even get some work done. But San Diego libraries offer a lot more. And the first step to using those services is getting a library card.
September is also Library Card Sign Up Month. It’s a initiative that encourages people who don’t have a library card – or need to renew one – to sign up for free.
Ady(AH-dee) Huertas (where-tas) is interim deputy director of customer experience for the Library Foundation SD.
Huertas says many people don't realize how easy it is to get a library card from their local branch .
HUERTAS: “So it's really primarily fill out the library card application form, go up to the service desk to get the card activated and present like the the identification if it's needed or the the parent signature the parent permission and then you get a library card within 5 minutes or less”
And that card opens the door to a lot more than books.
That includes 1,000 books before kindergarten, job assistance, and literacy help. The card also gives you access to nature backpacks filled with supplies for a hike.
Huertas says a library card can be a pathway to lifelong success.
HUERTAS:”so for us it's key that parents are practicing and engaging with youth and in terms of literacy and reading, but also utilizing the library as a resource.”
Audy McAfee, KPBS News.
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AS WE DO FOR YOU EACH AND EVERY FRIDAY, HERE ARE SOME WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS FOR YOU AND YOURS
TONIGHT THE RADY SHELL WILL FILL WITH SOUNDS FROM THE SOUNDTRACK OF ‘PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEAL’
THE SCORE WILL BE PERFORMED LIVE BY THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SATURDAY SEEMS LIKE A SOLID DAY FOR A FREE SLICE OF PIZZA
PIZZA CHAIN, MR MOTO IS CELEBRATING THEIR NEW UTC LOCATION WITH FREE SLICES —WHILE SUPPLIES LAST OF COURSE
THE PIZZA PALOOZA STARTS AT 11 A-M ON TOWNE CENTER DRIVE
IF YOU MISS IT ON SATURDAY, IT ALSO STARTS AT 11 ON SUNDAY
ALSO ON SUNDAY THE ASIAN AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL KICKS OFF WITH A FILM SCREENING
IT’S BEING HELD AT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN LA JOLLA AND DOORS OPEN AT 4 P-M
WHATEVER YOU DECIDE ON THIS WEEKEND, ENJOY AND BE SAFE!
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth. This podcast is 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.
