Could a donation at Comic-Con make you a real-life superhero?
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson…. It’s Thursday, July 24th !COULD A DONATION AT COMIC CON MAKE YOU A REAL LIFE SUPERHERO?
More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS JUST GREEN LIT A NEW BENEFITS NOTIFICATION PLAN IN A FOUR TO ONE VOTE
THE COUNTY WOULD SEND RESIDENTS A NOTIFICATION VIA TEXT, CALL OR EMAIL ALERTING THEM THAT THEIR BENEFITS ARE AT
RISK OF ENDING
ACCORDING TO STAFF ANALYSIS, THE BILL WOULD CUT OVER TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS FROM FOOD ASSISTANCE, IMPACTING MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND SAN DIEGANS, 230 THOUSAND OF WHICH ARE CHILDREN AND SENIORS
CALLING THE NOTIFICATION UNNECESSARY, BOARD SUPERVISOR DESMOND WAS THE SOLE ‘NO’ VOTE STATING THAT WITH CALIFORNIA FACING A TEN TO TWENTY BILLION DOLLAR REVENUE GAP, CUTS NEED TO BE MADE
#######
IF YOU WOKE UP TO MORE BUSSES ON YOUR LOCAL ROADS, THERE MIGHT BE A GOOD REASON FOR IT
SCHOOL IS BACK ON AND SUMMER VACATION IS OVER FOR MORE THAN SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND STUDENTS IN THE SOUTH BAY AREA
YESTERDAY WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR CHULA VISTA ELEMENTARY AND SWEETWATER UNION HIGH STUDENTS
THE DISTRICT FOLLOWS A YEAR-ROUND SCHEDULE WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR THE MID-SUMMER START DATE
MEMBERS OF THE AZTEC MARCHING EMPIRE AND CHEER SQUAD WERE THERE TO GREET AND ENCOURAGE RETURNING STUDENTS
#######
NASCAR WILL BE BURNING RUBBER IN A FIRST OF ITS KIND STREET RACE COMING IN 2026/COMING NEXT YEAR TO SAN DIEGO
THE NEWS WAS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THAT NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND IN CORONADO WILL BE APART OF THE NASCAR RACING SERIES
THE SERIES MARKS NASCAR’S RETURN TO SOCAL, A FIRST SINCE THE 2023 CLOSING OF THE AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
THIS IS THE SECOND STREET COURSE CHOSEN IN NASCAR’S MODERN ERA AND IS SLATED FOR FATHER’S DAY WEEKEND JUNE 19TH TO THE 21ST
IT’S THE FIRST TIME EVER THAT THESE RACES WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN ACTIVE MILITARY BASE AND COINCIDES WITH THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S. NAVY
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
##########
THE COUNTDOWN FOR COMIC-CON IS OVER. THE FOUR DAY EVENT OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF THIS MORNING WITH SOME PASSIONATE FANS ALREADY LINING UP AT THE CONVENTION CENTER LAST NIGHT.
REPORTER JACOB AERE TALKED WITH ONE WHO'S CAMPING OUT FOR ONE SPECIFIC EVENT.
San Diego Comic-Con 2025 is here … and so are the diehard con goers who dress in cosplay and camp out overnight as part of their fandom.
Nadar Scott (NAY-dar) flew in from South Carolina specifically for the 20th anniversary panel for “Avatar the Last Air Bender.”
“I have a nice comfortable chair, I got a sweater, I got my hat and i will get a blanket because it's going to be cool tonight.”
It's his eighteenth year at the Con … and he's sleeping outside before the official Thursday kickoff.
“My flight was supposed to be tomorrow and I would've got here around 9 am. And that's not going to work for me. I have to be up front and close and personal. I changed my flight. I don't even have a hotel room tonight, this is my hotel room!”
Tens of thousands of people are expected in town for the four day event which lasts through Sunday. JA KPBS News
##########
AFGHAN REFUGEES LEGALLY IN THE UNITED STATES CONTINUE TO FIND THEMSELVES TARGETED BY U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT. MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER SAT DOWN WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM SAN DIEGO-BASED NON-PROFIT AFGHANEVAC TO TALK ABOUT THE LATEST CASE.
In June KPBS reported on a former U.S. military interpreter named Sayed who was arrested after an immigration court hearing in San Diego.
Now, it’s happened again in Connecticut.
Zia is a 35-year-old Afghan father of five. His attorney says he was approved for a special immigrant visa and to bring his family to the U.S. last year.
KPBS is not using their last names because they fear for their safety.
Last week ice agents arrested Zia after an appointment required for his green card.
Jessica Bradley rushing works with AfghanEvac. Before that, she worked in the state department resettling afghans. She's frustrated with the Trump administration’s treatment of Afghan refugees.
You know, when people like the general public doesn't necessarily there's so much to pay attention to right now. This isn't necessarily the top issue for every person that they're paying attention to. But when people hear these stories, they are absolutely disgusted.
As for Sayed, the Afghan arrested last month in San Diego … after his asylum case was dismissed, his attorney says he passed his credible fear interview. That means starting the asylum process all over again.
The Department of homeland security did not respond to KPBS’s questions.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS news
##########
SAN DIEGO WAS FACING A BIG BUDGET CRUNCH. FOR OUR WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO CEO SCOTT LEWIS TALKS ABOUT ONE WAY THE CITY WANTS TO MAKE MONEY: PAID PARKING IN BALBOA PARK.
The Mayor’s office recently gave us the first look at that plan.
First, eight streets along the eastern edge of the park will all get meters. And charge the city’s new rate: $2.50 an hour.
Then there are 12 parking lots inside the park. The mayor wants to divide them into three tiers. The top tier are those prize spots – the organ pavilion, and the lots by the Fleet Science Center and the Natural History museum. If you get a spot there, you’re in such good shape. In coming months, though, you’d have to pay $15 a day for those prime lots, if the mayor has his way.
The second tier lots, like the veterans museum and starlight bowl will be $5 a day.
Then there’s the lowest tier, the big lot known as Inspiration Point. It will be free for two hours.
Again, the City Council has to approve these prices. And they want to create a special permit for San Diego residents giving them a discount. They may also try to give a deal to employees who work in the park.
Now there’s an elephant in the room: the zoo. Sorry, I had to. The zoo has three giant parking lots that will still be free. So people could pack into them more than ever.
If the city starts charging for parking at the zoo, the Zoo would want some of that money. But that would require renegotiating the Zoo’s lease, which could take a year or more.
I’m Scott Lewis for Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters.
############
A RECENT KPBS INVESTIGATION FOUND A SPIKE IN DOG EUTHANASIAS AT SAN DIEGO COUNTY-RUN ANIMAL SHELTERS. IN PART TWO OF THIS SERIES REPORTER SCOTT RODD SAYS THE EUTHANASIA OF ONE DOG IN PARTICULAR CAUSED TURMOIL AMONG SHELTER STAFF.
A RECENT KPBS INVESTIGATION FOUND A SPIKE IN DOG EUTHANASIAS AT SAN DIEGO COUNTY-RUN ANIMAL SHELTERS. IN PART TWO OF THIS SERIES…REPORTER SCOTT RODD SAYS THE EUTHANASIA OF ONE DOG IN PARTICULAR CAUSED TURMOIL AMONG STAFF.
[Is Wesley out there? OK, come on Buttercup...]
I recently visited Jeanne Miller…and her two dogs…at her home in Carlsbad.
So this is Buttercup. Um, she is pure Great Dane. She weighs about 152 pounds and She's about 5 1/2 years old….Westley is a mix of a terrier of some sort. And he is about 10 years old.
Miller prefers to get her pets from shelters.
I like it because they seem to know that you're rescuing them. You know — it’s their some second chance.
Miller for years has wanted a Great Pyrenees. They’re these big, fluffy dogs that are bred to guard livestock. Miller has a chicken coop in her backyard…and wanted to keep the coyotes away.
Late last year, Miller dropped by the animal shelter in Carlsbad, which is run by the San Diego County Department of Animal Services. And that’s when she found 4-year-old Franklin sitting quietly in a kennel.
There he was, a Pyrenees, and I'm going, ‘What are you doing here,’ you know?... not barking, very calm. And he took a treat from us…[17:40] You could tell he had a good disposition.
The shelter told Miller that Franklin had been adopted and returned before. The Great Pyrenees had growled at one of the family members and was territorial around food. He also on a couple occasions tried to nip — a less serious kind of bite that’s typically playful or attention-seeking.
But Miller wasn’t worried. She took him home that day.
And Franklin did what Great Pyrenees are bred to do.
“He just would walk around the yard and just kind of patrol the backyard and then come back and go inside.”
However…Buttercup wasn’t so keen on Franklin. The Great Dane kept barking and growling at the new dog. Franklin ignored Buttercup.
Yet Miller sensed an untenable situation. She felt she had no choice but to take Franklin back.
Miller arrived at the shelter the next day and an employee led Franklin into the back.
She tearfully filled out the return paperwork.
“Good boy, very nice” she wrote. Miller explained to the front desk employee that she only brought Franklin back because her Great Dane reacted negatively.
“The lady assured me that…people will probably adopt him sooner, quicker — because there’s a good review.”
But this was an empty assurance.
Franklin was euthanized that afternoon. Likely while Miller was still standing at the front desk…and possibly before her feedback was even entered into the shelter’s computer system, our reporting found.
Miller only heard about the shelter euthanizing Franklin when KPBS contacted her.
“He was a great dog. So I don't see why, you know, what happened had to happen. And who made that decision. That wasn't fair to him at all.”
An employee decided Franklin had an untreatable behavioral issue.
His euthanasia fits a troubling pattern. A recent KPBS investigation found the dog euthanasia rate at San Diego County-run animal shelters has more than doubled in recent years.
KPBS spoke to nearly a dozen former employees and volunteers…who claim the county routinely puts down dogs with mild behavioral issues. Dogs that could have been rehabilitated with reasonable training.
KPBS confirmed Franklin’s euthanasia upset a number of employees. In part because the shelter broke its own rules.
Franklin’s paperwork shows he should have been held for several days after his return. If the shelter followed this rule…Franklin would almost certainly still be alive.
I felt really guilty and that's why we went back. Like I think it was like 2 days later. We went back and we go, ‘That's it. Let's make it work. And he was gone. They said, "Oh, he's gone."
The county Department of Animal Services declined our interview request. County spokesperson Chuck Westerheide said in a statement: “The dog was not eligible to go back into the shelter population because he could not be safely adopted.”
Miller doesn’t buy the county’s explanation. She believes the shelter made a terrible mistake putting Franklin down.
But she has her own regrets too.
On the day Miller returned Franklin…a shelter employee was about to throw away a photo from the dog’s file.
Miller wanted to keep it.
I asked her why.
“To remind me that, not to…if I'm going to save a life again, to make sure that I save it fully. And not not jeopardize him, you know, going back. You know? He…He shouldn't have been put down…”
Scott Rodd, KPBS News
KPBS journalist Lainie Alfaro contributed research and reporting to this investigation.
##########
YOU CAN BE A REAL LIFE SUPERHERO AND SAVE A LIFE AT COMIC-CON!
THE CONVENTION AND THE SAN DIEGO BLOOD BANK ARE HOSTING A BLOOD DRIVE THIS WEEK AT THE MANCHESTER GRAND HYATT. THE DRIVE IS THE BLOOD BANK’S LARGEST AND LONGEST RUNNING EVENT, BEGINNING IN 1977.
CLAUDINE, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND MEDIA AT THE BLOOD BANK SAYS THE DRIVE IS NAMED AFTER A POPULAR SCIENCE FICTION WRITER
Robert A. Heinlein was asked to come to Comic-Con and sign autographs. He wasn’t one to really be out in public and sign autographs, but unfortunately he did need blood transfusions at one point for an illness, so he said he’ll come if they connect a blood drive with the event and so here we are 49 years later.
NO BADGE IS REQUIRED TO DONATE. BUT YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 17 YEARS OLD, WEIGH 110 POUNDS AND BE IN GENERALLY GOOD HEALTH.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. (Tease to Finest podcast or CinemaJunkie). I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
