City council committee votes to end the use of Automated License Plate Readers

<<<HEADLINES>>>

Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22ND>>>> [ A SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE VOTED TO END THE USE OF ALPR’S ]More on that next. But first... the headlines ...#######

A FIFTY-YEAR-TO-LIFE PRISON SENTENCE WAS RECENTLY WIPED OUT FOR THE SANTANA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTER AND NOW IT’S INSPIRED A NEW LAW

THE PREVIOUS LAW SAID IF A JUDGE RULES A DEFENDANT IS ELIGIBLE FOR RE-SENTENCING FOR A CRIME THEY COMMITTED WHEN THEY WERE UNDER 16 … THE RESENTENCING  CAN BE HEARD IN JUVENILE COURT

ACCORDING TO  UNION TRIBUNE REPORTING, JUVENILE COURT LOSES JURISDICTION WHEN A PERSON IS 25, SO OFFENDERS OLDER THAN THAT COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE

THE SANTANA SHOOTER WAS 15 AT THE TIME OF THE CRIME … HE IS NOW 40 YEARS OLD

THE NEW LAW CHANGES IT SO JUDGES HAVE THE ABILITY TO STEER RESENTENCING CASES FOR THOSE WHO WERE UNDER 16 AT THE TIME OF THE CRIME TO AN ADULT COURT

DISTRICT ATTORNEY SUMMER STEPHAN SAYS THE NEW LAW RECOGNIZES THAT YOUNG PEOPLE CAN CHANGE AND DESERVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REHABILITATION AND ALSO THAT VICTIMS, SURVIVORS AND COMMUNITIES DESERVE ACCOUNTABILITY

#######

IN ANTICIPATION OF SEVERE EL NINO WEATHER,  STORMWATER CREWS HAVE BEEN BUSY DOING  STORM CHANNEL MAINTENANCE ACROSS THE  COUNTY

THEIR RECENT FOCUS WAS THE SORRENTO VALLEY; ONE OF THE HIGHER FLOOD RISK AREAS IN THE  COUNTY

THE CITY SAID IT TOOK SEVERAL WEEKS FOR CREWS  TO CLEAR INVASIVE VEGETATION, TRASH AND DEBRIS IN THAT AREA

CITY OFFICIALS SAY THE WORK IS PREVENTATIVE AND HELPS MAKE SURE  THE CHANNELS CAN EFFICIENTLY MOVE  STORMWATER DURING THE RAINY SEASON

MAYOR TODD GLORIA’S OFFICE SAYS THE STORMWATER DEPARTMENT PLANS TO DO MAINTENANCE ON MORE THAN TWENTY MILES OF STORM CHANNELS THIS FISCAL YEAR

SO FAR CREWS HAVE COMPLETED  ROUGHLY HALF OF THAT INCLUDING THE CHOLLAS CREEK WATERSHED…

THAT AREA  SAW SEVERE FLOODING DURING THE JANUARY 20-24 STORMS

########

A NEW EXHIBIT AT THE BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY ALLOWS YOU TO GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH AN AXOLOTL

THE MEXICAN SALAMANDER IS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

THE EXHIBIT IS  CALLED THE AXOLOTL’S GARDEN AND IS INSPIRED BY MEXICO’S ECOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL RICHNESS

THE AQUARIUM SAYS THE EXHIBIT CONNECTS THE PUBLIC WITH MEXICANS USING ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE TO HELP RESTORE THE AMPHIBIANS HABITAT 

AND ON DIA DE MUERTOS FOR PETS NEXT TUESDAY, AN ARTIST WILL INSTALL TWO OFRENDAS. AT ONE,  YOU CAN SHARE THE NAME OF A BELOVED PET YOU’VE LOST TO BE ADDED TO THEIR COMMUNITY ALTAR

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>>

##########

A SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE YESTERDAY VOTED TO END THE CITY'S USE OF AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS

METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS OPPOSITION TO THE TECHNOLOGY IS MOUNTING.

______________________________________________

FLOCK 1 (ab) 0:55 soq

AB: San Diego has used automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, for about three years. The technology from Flock Safety helps police find stolen vehicles and people with arrest warrants. But critics say it's too invasive. The cameras capture every license plate that passes by, even if the driver has broken no laws. There have also been cases of false hits and mistaken identity. Councilmember Henry Foster III says ALPRs are simply not worth the cost.

HF: Protecting our communities means more than addressing crime. It means protecting residents' privacy, defending their civil liberties, safeguarding public resources and holding our government accountable.

AB: Mayor Todd Gloria says ALPRs are a vital tool for law enforcement and San Diego has strong privacy protections. It's unclear when the question of keeping or ditching the technology will reach the full city council. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

##########

PROPOSITION 43 IS ON THE BALLOT. 

THAT MEASURE WOULD MAKE IT HARDER TO IMPOSE OR INCREASE LOCAL TAXES. 

GUY MARZORATI (mar-ZORE-ah-tee) WITH OUR CALIFORNIA NEWSROOM PARTNER, KQED, HAS THIS EXPLAINER…

PROP 43 (kqed) TRT 0:40 last words "fund local services"

__

Prop. 43 would raise the threshold to pass local tax measures brought forward by citizens. Those are ballot measures that require voter signatures to qualify.

If Prop. 43 passes, citizen initiatives for earmarked special taxes would require a two-thirds vote to pass. Right now, they only need a majority.

That two-thirds vote is also required to pass taxes that are put on the ballot by local governments.

Prop. 43 supporters say all special taxes should meet that high bar.

Opponents argue the measure will effectively give a minority of voters veto power over tax increases, making it harder to fund local services.

TAG: THAT WAS GUY MARZORATI (mar-ZORE-ah-tee) WITH K-Q-E-D.

##########

THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY WHO ARE FOOD INSECURE.  

REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS TWO LOCAL STATE SENATORS YESTERDAY HEARD ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS OF A LACK OF NUTRITIOUS FOOD

__________________________________________________

WEBERFOOD 1                     1:09                             SOQ

THE NUMBERS IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY ARE NOT GOOD. FEEDING SAN DIEGO SAYS ABOUT 13-PERCENT OF COUNTY RESIDENTS - AREN’T SURE WHERE THEIR NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM. THAT INCLUDES 130-THOUSAND CHILDREN. STATE SENATORS DOCTOR AKILAH WEBER-PIERSON AND STEVE PADILLA HEARD THE STORIES BEHIND THE STATISTICS AT A HEARING IN KEARNY MESA.

DR. ALEXANDRA KHARAZI IS A CARDIOTHORACIC SURGEON WHO ADVOCATES FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. SHE SEES THE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF DECADES OF FOOD INSECURITY AND POOR NUTRITION IN MANY OF HER PATIENTS.

“Particularly in the South Bay, where I do a lot of my work, people oftentimes, there’s more of a disparity with the food people are able to have access to.”

BOTH WEBER-PIERSON AND PADILLA SIT ON COMMITTEES THAT DEAL WITH THE HEALTH OF CALIFORNIANS. THEY SAY THEY’LL TAKE WHAT THEY LEARNED BACK TO SACRAMENTO… AND WORK ON CRAFTING POLICIES THAT WILL IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIVES… INCLUDING WHERE THE MONEY WILL COME FROM TO SUPPORT THOSE POLICIES. JC, KPBS NEWS.

##########

FATHER JOE’S VILLAGES OPENED A NEW DAY CENTER THIS MONTH IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. PENNER FELLOW EMMY BURRUS REPORTS THAT THE FACILITY NOW SERVES AS A UNIQUE RESOURCE CENTER FOR PEOPLE WITH NO WHERE ELSE TO GO DURING THE DAY

DAYCENTER (eb) TRT SOQ

___

(open with ambi of day center)

When you walk into the new East Village day center, you pass through an alcove with chairs, a bike rack and a window to talk to housing navigation services. Further inside, half of the center has showers, bathrooms, laundry machines and a barber shop. Showers have been available for decades.

But now Father Joe’s carved out part of a cafeteria to build a place for people to rest during the day. Here people can charge their phones and lie down.

Frank Kensaku Saragosa was previously unhoused. He says when unsheltered people are worried about safety and personal belongings, they often end up staying awake all night.

“So a lot of people, if they sleep, they sleep with one eye open. It's a very shallow sleep. So during the day they're really tired. And they can't sleep in parks, they can't sleep in the libraries, you know, there's a million places where they can't stop.” [0:12]

Saragosa often went to the old Neil Good day center, which offered the same services just a few blocks away. It closed last month following city of San Diego budget cuts. In a statement to KPBS, the city said it’s focused on maximizing shelter capacity and getting people permanently housed.

When Neil Good closed on September 30th, the new center opened the very next day. Father Joe’s CEO Deacon Jim Vargas says continuing services without interruption was a priority.

Like Neil Good, the new center offers mailing services. Vargas says this is especially important now because CalFresh and Medi-Cal keep clients informed about federal changes via mail.

And Stacey Livingstone with UCSD’s homelessness hub says mail services are particularly important for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

“They're more prone to sweeps and when a sweep occurs people can lose really important things including their IDs. And you really need an ID like a driver's license to do everything to apply for a job, to obtain housing.” [0:15]

The new center doesn’t have an outdoor area and is smaller inside. But Vargas says they’ve been able to accommodate the same amount of people.

“We haven't turned anyone away. And that's the key. Not turning anyone away and continuing the services that we've had in the past.” [0:06]

But unlike the old center… the new one doesn’t have enough room for everyone’s belongings. So people with a lot of items are referred to a storage area a few blocks away.

Neil Good had been partially funded by the city and operated by Father Joe’s. To avoid losing a place for unhoused people to safely relax during the day in downtown altogether, Father Joe’s took on full responsibility for the new center. Vargas says the remodel was completely funded by donations.

And now, they’ll have to raise 1.1-million-dollars every year to keep it running.

But without a day center, people experiencing homelessness in downtown San Diego might not have a safe place to relax and clean up during the day.

And people experiencing homelessness who are outside during the day are at a higher risk of police contact. Here’s Brandon Greene with the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

“The increased penalties for things like sitting, laying, loitering in public spaces have continued to go up as sort of criminalization has become the go-to in a lot of places. And so this cannot only entangle folks with increased police contact, but that can come with increased fines and fees that people can't afford to pay.” [0:22]

The old day center gave Saragosa a place where he could legally sit down.

“Most people take for granted that if they want to sit down and relax, they can sit down and relax. If they've had a long day, they can just sit on their couch and decompress. Unhoused people don't have that. And when you close the day center, you close one of the very few places where that's possible. The world isn't friendly to unhoused people.” [0:17]

The new day center provides soap to use in the showers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving razors and combs.

Because the new center is located at Father Joe’s main campus - lunch, computers and healthcare services are available just across the street.

A day center gave Sargosa a place to access all of these services. But it also gave him a community.

“I know people don't really think of unhoused people as having community, but we do. We form friendships, we form relationships, we do things together, we make plans together. And so, if I was looking for friends, I would pass through the Neil Good Day Center because it was very likely that they might be there.” [0:17]

Once he entered permanent housing, Saragosa says he was able to tell his friends from the day center how he did it and give them tips for navigating the system.

“Whatever the reason, a lot has had to happen to somebody for them to end up on the streets… But we're still human beings.” [0:07]

Emmy Burrus, KPBS News

  ##########

IF YOU LOVE BIRDING OR MAYBE WANT TO GET INTO IT, THERE’S A NEW EXPERT AT THE SAN DIEGO HISTORY MUSEUM.

ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SPENT THE MORNING WITH HIM, JUST BEFORE THE MUSEUM OPENED. 

BIRDLIFE 1 trt: 1:16

Birding at Balboa Park isn’t necessarily part of the job.

*Nat*

“So this here is an Orange-crowned warbler.”

But as a lifelong birdwatcher, it’s Ryan Terrill’s (tEh-rull) preferred way to start the workday.

BIRDLIFE 1a 00:

“I’ve already seen almost 75 species of birds just right here in the park.”

Terrill is the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new curator of ornithology.

He’s spent his life studying birds of the West Coast and parts of the Americas.

Now he’s focusing on what’s in San Diego County, often called the “birdiest county in America.”

BIRDLIFE 1b 00:

“Right here in San Diego, we can go up to the mountains, we can go over to the desert, we can go to the coastal chaparral, we can go to the ocean. And it would be completely different communities of birds.”

Terrill’s new role is also somewhat new to the museum. Ornithology is now its own department. It’s the museum’s commitment to studying the hundreds of species recorded in the region.

BIRDLIFE 1c 00:

“This is a really special region for birds. A lot of it is because of the diversity.”

With a warming planet, it’s perhaps more important than ever to learn how and where birds fly.

BIRDLIFE 1d 00:

“This is one difference we’re seeing with climate change is these hurricanes starting to make more landfall and bringing these weird, you know, tropical seabirds inland.”

Terrill hopes to build a feather lab at the museum and, who knows, maybe start birding events at Balboa Park, too. Tammy Murga, KPBS News.

##########

THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO'S POET LAUREATE HAS CURATED A NEW EXHIBIT OF VIDEO POEMS BY LOCAL POETS AND ARTISTS. 

ARTS REPORTER JULIA DIXON EVANS EXPLAINS HOW POETRY CAN FIND NEW LIFE

APERTURA 1 (1:14) SOQ

____________________________________________

A "video poem" is sort of like an artsy, mini documentary with narrated text.

isn't it scary to live far from family.

That's Sarita Tánori's "Bakersfield & Heaven."

The video layers looping images of crops, small plastic toy cows, and old photos over a poem. It's about place — and loss.

We pull over on the shoulder between bakersfield and heaven. I always hated the smell of manure and pesticides in the vents: soon, i'll learn a mortuary in turlock, california smells worse."

Tánori's work is part of "Apertura," a new exhibit curated by San Diego Poet Laureate Paola Capo-Garcia.

She is passionate about convincing poetry skeptics to give it another chance.

And it's not to say that I have the answer for everyone loving poetry, but that I genuinely trust in poetry's ability to bring in any human being.

And this is what she hopes this exhibition achieves with its collection of tiny films.

through the visuals, through that storytelling, and bringing something on the page to life that way"

Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS News

TAG: THE EXHIBIT OPENS SATURDAY AT THE ATHENAEUM [AH-THUH-NAE-UM] ART CENTER IN LOGAN HEIGHTS

<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>

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.