Breaking down Prop 41 & 42 as Election Day approaches
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20TH>>>> [ WITH ELECTION DAY COMING UP, WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT PROP 41 AND 42 } More on that next. But first... the headlines …#######
AS MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE TO RISE, FEWER PEOPLE ARE BUYING HOMES
HOME SALES AND THE PRICE OF A HOME IS DOWN ACROSS THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA … AND HERE IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY
THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS SAYS SAN DIEGO COUNTY HOME SALES WERE DOWN SIX PERCENT IN SEPTEMBER COMPARED TO AUGUST …
THE PRICE OF A SINGLE FAMILY, HOME IN THE COUNTY ALSO DECREASED BY NEARLY FOUR PERCENT – BUT IT’S STILL OVER 1 MILLION DOLLARS
AND AT THE STATE LEVEL … SEPTEMBER’S SALES OF EXISTING, SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES ARE DOWN OVER THREE PERCENT AS COMPARED TO AUGUST
THE AVERAGE PRICE OF A HOME IN THE STATE ALSO SAW A DROP OF ALMOST TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS
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YESTERDAY WAS THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IF YOU WANTED TO GET A MAIL-IN BALLOT FOR THE UPCOMING NOVEMBER THIRD ELECTION
IF YOU MISSED IT … YOU CAN STILL EXERCISE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF VOTING BECAUSE CALIFORNIA ALLOWS FOR SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION
THERE’S TWO WAYS TO DO THAT
THE FIRST IS TO CAST AN IN-PERSON BALLOT AT THE REGISTRAR’S OFFICE IN KEARNY MESA. THEY ARE OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY FROM 8 AM TO 5 P-M
OR STARTING ON SATURDAY, YOU CAN VISIT ANY OF THE VOTE CENTERS IN THE COUNTY RIGHT UP UNTIL ELECTION DAY ON NOVEMBER THIRD
YOU CAN GO TO KPBS DOT ORG SLASH VOTER HUB TO FIND THE VOTER HUB CLOSEST TO YOU
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TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE COUNTY ARE GOING TO COOL DOWN CONSIDERABLY
FORECASTERS SAY YOU SHOULD FEEL THE DROP IN TEMPS STARTING TODAY AND MOST OF US CAN EXPECT PERIODS OF RAIN THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
THAT’S BECAUSE A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS MOVING IN FROM THE NORTHWEST
THE HIGHEST CHANCE OF RAIN IS ON WEDNESDAY EVENING AND INTO THURSDAY
N-W-S SAYS THOSE LIVING ALONG THE COAST SHOULD EXPECT A RETURN OF ONSHORE WINDS, LOW CLOUDS AND EARLY-MORNING FOG
N-W-S REMINDS US THERE IS ALSO STILL A BEACH HAZARD STATEMENT IN EFFECT FOR THIS MORNING WITH SURF RANGING ANYWHERE FROM 3 TO SIX FEET AND DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS
AND IN OUR DESERTS, THERE’S A LOWER LIKELIHOOD OF RAIN, BUT TEMPS WILL BE BREEZY AND COOL THERE TOO
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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PROPOSITIONS 41 AND 42 ARE ON THE BALLOT .
BOTH MEASURES ARE DESIGNED TO CANCEL OUT PROP 40 … COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE BILLIONAIRE TAX.
LAURA FITZGERALD WITH OUR CALIFORNIA NEWSROOM PARTNER, KQED, HAS THIS EXPLAINER ON THE TWO COUNTER MEASURES...
PROP 41&42 TRT 0:36 last words "in the future"
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A yes vote on Prop. 41 is a vote against the Prop. 40 billionaire tax measure. The proposition would also require audits of programs that are funded by taxes earmarked for a specific purpose.
Prop 42 would ban future taxes on wealth … that includes intellectual property, stocks and bonds. It also prohibits the state from imposing taxes retroactively.
Billionaire and Google co-founder Sergey Brin proposed both Props 41 and 42.
If either passes with more votes than Prop 40 … it would kill the billionaire’s tax and help thwart similar ballot measures in the future.
TAG: THAT WAS LAURA FITZGERALD WITH K-Q-E-D.
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THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCED CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST 28 PEOPLE ACROSS CALIFORNIA YESTERDAY (MONDAY) ACCUSING THEM OF ELECTION-RELATED OFFENSES. FOUR OF THOSE DEFENDANTS ARE CONNECTED TO SAN DIEGO COUNTY
I-NEWS-SOURCE REPORTER JAKE KINCAID SAT DOWN WITH MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON TO DISCUSS THIS AND HIS RECENT REPORTING ON THE ISSUE.
JUSTICESUIT (midday) TRT 3:54 last words “thanks for having me”
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What do these 28 cases that we're talking about actually establish about the scale of non-citizen voting in California?
Well, you know, as has been pointed out in similar investigations nationwide, not very much. I mean, 20 individuals is a extremely small percent of the registered voters, and you know, this is the argument that all the election experts that I've interviewed on these stories have made that, you know, despite these Trump administration claims of widespread voter fraud, the actual numbers that they uncover are very small.
And that's what the San Diego County Registrar also says when I have reached out on the comment that there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the county.
And what do you make of the timing of these charges? They are happening as many voters are filling out their mail ballots as we speak. Election day is just 2 weeks from tomorrow. How unusual is this for it to all be happening now?
This is one of the biggest things that was criticized about the wider lawsuit. These allegations were initially made in July and now it's October and ballots have gone out and the first that they have heard back was on Tuesday, according to the state. Now, this became has become sort of a he said she said situation between the Justice Department and the state of California.
Uh state of California says that they asked for the methodology and, you know, the information that they would need to be able to verify these allegations that there 20,000 non-citizens registered to vote and you know, they said they didn't get that information until Tuesday with a 48-hour deadline, which passed, and that's what led to the lawsuit being filed.
But the Justice Department officials said in this conference that this is, you know, essentially a that the state is lying and that this is very disingenuous narrative and that, you know, they have shown time and time again that they want to work with the state and they want to run the state's voter rolls through national immigration databases.
So the Justice Department says all 28 defendants appeared on this list of more than 20,000 people it identified as likely non-citizens on California's voter rolls. And am I understanding that correctly?
That's correct.
So and do we know how federal officials identified those individuals and and what evidence they have?
They described it briefly in the press conference as basically cross-referencing public databases with federal immigration information in order to get this list of 20,000 and also uh they said that they, you know, subpoenaed the Secretary of State and that they've subpoenaed county counties throughout California. They didn't specifically say that, you know, the Southern District cases resulted from the San Diego subpoenas, although it seems to me to be the case.
So the subpoenas that they have filed to local county registrars were part of the evidence that they used to make these charges generally.
You mentioned the subpoenas regarding citizenship. Take me there.
That's right. So we obtained the subpoenas themselves through a public records request last week and they showed that they subpoenaed the records of 25 voters. In some cases, asking for voting history and registration going back 15 years, but most of the requests centered around the 2024 election. So this also matches the charges that are being filed against the four individuals, all for illegally voting in the 2024 election.
You know, one subpoena requested somebody's actual ballot, so the ballot itself, and it was interesting that the the subpoena that followed that had a big bold disclaimer on it to not reproduce the contents of a ballot. And the San Diego County Registrar said that they didn't reproduce any information about how an individual voted and that they're actually not able to to do that. The ballots also show that they're looking at for like utility records and attestations of citizenship.
TAG: THAT WAS INEWSOURCE REPORTER JAKE KINCAID WITH K-P-B-S’S JADE HINDMON
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A SAN DIEGO CITY COLLEGE STUDENT WHO WAS DETAINED BY ICE NEAR HIS SCHOOL’S CAMPUS – HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM IMMIGRATION DETENTION.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SPOKE WITH HIM ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE AND THE COMMUNITY’S REACTION.
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HAITIANICE 1 (1:04) SOQ
On Friday a Federal judge ordered the release of 20-year-old Renatho Casseus.
On Saturday afternoon he was driven out of Otay Mesa Detention Center and dropped off near the border.
“I’m happy to see my mom and dad, my friends, my brothers…”
Casseus had been held at the detention center for over a month. He was arrested by ICE on Sept. 8… on his way to classes at San Diego City College.
“I was worried for the Haitian community, but I wasn't worried for me. Because I was a student I didn't think ICE agents would target a student…”
His arrest …and the arrest of other Haitians following the end of their country’s Temporary Protected Status … sparked an outcry from the larger San Diego community.
Casseus says he’s looking to return to campus to continue his studies as soon as possible. His attorney says he has a pending asylum case.
Officials at San Diego City College say since his arrest they've added new signage around campus regarding immigration enforcement. JA KPBS News.
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THE TEAM PLANNING MIDWAY RISING AND CITY STAFF HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATING FOR FOUR YEARS. THEY GOT SPECIAL LEGISLATION PASSED AND SIGNED. AND NOW THE CITY COUNCIL IS POISED TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL. BUT ONE LAST APPROVAL IS MONTHS OR YEARS AWAY.
FOR THIS WEEK’S WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO’S SCOTT LEWIS EXPLAINS HOW IT COULD DERAIL THE WHOLE THING.
MIDWAY (vosd) TRT 1:00 last words "why it matters"
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The Midway Rising deal is a big trade: The city will not charge much rent on the nearly 50 acres of land it's letting the developers build on. What rent it does charge won’t be collected for years. In exchange, the developers will build a new arena, new housing units and infrastructure.
That infrastructure will cost an estimated $400 million that the Midway Rising team will have to invest. But they want to get about $100 million of that back.
They want an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD
Basically the city and county would both agree to cap the property taxes they collect in the area at current levels.
Increases in property tax collections won’t go to the city or county. Instead, that will go to the developer.
But the County Board of Supervisors has not signed off. Getting that approval could take another year. If they don’t, the Midway Rising team can walk away from the deal without building anything.
I’m Scott Lewis for Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters.
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SAN DIEGO’S DIANA COWERN (dye-AN-ah kow-urn), AKA PHYSICS GIRL, WAS ONE OF THE INTERNET’S MOST POPULAR SCIENCE COMMUNICATORS. BUT HER CAREER – AND LIFE – WERE DERAILED BY AN ILLNESS THAT SCIENCE COULDN’T EXPLAIN.
THE FINEST PRODUCER ANTHONY WALLACE TELLS THE STORY.
PHYSICSGIRL (4:37) SOQ
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"Well, in case you're new here, I'm Dianna. You're watching Physics Girl, and…"
Back in 2022 Dianna Cowern was living her lifelong dream -- sharing her passion for science with people everywhere.
"… earlier this past winter, I spent two nights on an ice camp 160 miles from civilization."
She had more than 2 million YouTube subscribers and was filming all over the world.
"We went to the Arctic. We went to Death Valley and filmed a really, really cool and then, then really successful video there."
"There are rocks in the Death Valley deserts that move across the ground on their own…"
"The best days of Physics Girl and we were having the best time as well."
As if things couldn't get any better, Cowern married her long-time partner Kyle Kitzmiller. But on their honeymoon in Scotland, her big year hit what seemed like a minor snag. She got COVID.
"The typical symptoms, like a sore throat and a cough and a stuffy nose, but it wasn't anything alarming."
Those symptoms passed, and a few weeks later, the couple set off on a multi-day hike they'd been planning for months.
"On the third day, I started hiking, and I would rest, and I didn't feel recuperated, and I got in a cab and went to the next location while Kyle hiked it by himself "
But rest didn't help.
"Brain fog like I'd never experienced before. I couldn't walk. I couldn't think. I c- I had nausea and, and headaches. And I never recovered from that crash."
The newlyweds cut their honeymoon short. Back home in San Diego, things got worse.
"I just deteriorated, I was so sensitive to light and sound that I was spending every single day in a dark room with noise-canceling headphones on and dark glasses on so that I could take away every environmental stimulus"
"She had a really weird thing where her heart rate would get really, really low. Like in the 30s. I put like, um, you know, pulse thing on her that would have an alarm if it went too low. I would, like, sleep, you know, waiting for this alarm to go off, I just, every day I d- didn't know if she was just gonna die."
In a matter of months, they went from traveling the world and interviewing scientists to being stuck in their apartment, searching for answers.
"Nobody knows what to do. The best scientist in the world doesn't know how to treat or cure long COVID."
Doctors told Cowern she was fine -- their tests couldn't detect anything alarming. She was even turned away from the emergency room twice. The couple soon discovered that while science has helped explain everything from gravity to DNA, post-infectious chronic illness remains a mystery.
For reasons scientists don't yet fully understand, some people who get COVID or other infections never fully recover. This includes Long COVID, which Cowern has, as well as other conditions like chronic Lyme disease.
By some estimates, post-infectious chronic illness affects up to 10% of Americans -- that's tens of millions of people.
"A lot of people who have this disease are so desperate for, um, treatments, and there are none. There are none ... like, approved- Yeah ... for the treatment of long COVID."
So they tried treatments that aren’t approved specifically for long COVID. And a couple of them were life-changing.
"I was able to start doing, like, looking at my phone again and reading and, um, listening to music, which was amazing. And then everything improved."
Cowern eventually got out of bed and made her first science video in 3 years. Physics Girl was back.
"Guess how long it takes for light to get from the center of the sun to the outside of the sun? What? Hundreds of thousands of years. "
Cowern's come a long way, but her health is still a struggle. She estimates she's functioning at about 30 to 40% of her previous capacity. We wondered if our long interview might have pushed her too far.
"I might crash after this, but it's worth it. I will probably crash from it, but that's something that I'm willing to do because I want to live. And this is, like, this is part of it too, like getting to meet you guys and chatting and tell our story. So thankful because this is, like, this is food for, for the soul that's... The, the deprived soul. "
Anthony Wallace, KPBS News.
TAG: HEAR MORE ABOUT PHYSICS GIRL’S EXPERIENCE WITH LONG COVID AND THE TREATMENTS SHE’S TRIED ON THE FINEST PODCAST, AT KPBS DOT ORG SLASH THE FINEST OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS.
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ONE TINY CREATURE IS MAKING A BIG COME BACK IN SAN DIEGO.
REPORTER CARLY KAY SAYS A CONSERVATION PROGRAM IS GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE
POCKETMOUSE TRT: (:40) SOQ
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*** NAT ***
SORRY, I’M WAKING YOU UP, HONEY. HERE SHE IS. HI
DEBRA SHIER (SHY-AR) IS COAXING A PACIFIC POCKET MOUSE OUT OF ITS BURROW. SHE RUNS A CONSERVATION PROGRAM THROUGH SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT ALMOST DROVE THE THUMB-SIZE MOUSE TO EXTINCTION.
NOW, A NEW POPULATION HAS BEEN RE-INTRODUCED TO CAMP PENDLETON
POCKET MOUSE 1A (:10)
THE RECOVERY PLAN CALLS FOR TEN POPULATIONS BEFORE WE CAN CONSIDER DOWN LISTING TO THREATENED. AND WE’RE REALLY JUST MAKING A HUGE, HUGE PROGRESS TOWARD THAT GOAL.
THE ALLIANCE BREEDS THE MICE TO HAVE GENETICS AND BEHAVIORS TO HELP THEM SURVIVE THE WILD. SO FAR, THEY’VE RETURNED MORE THAN 500 RODENTS TO THEIR NATIVE RANGE. CARLY KAY, KPBS NEWS
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That’s it for today’s pod. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth and is hosted and produced by myself, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
