County’s top election official expects an influx of poll watchers today
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, NOVEMBER THIRD, ELECTION DAY>>>>> [ THE COUNTY’S TOP ELECTION OFFICIAL SAYS HIS OFFICE IS PREPARED IF ANY ONE TRIES TO INTERFER WITH VOTING AT POLLING LOCATIONS TODAY }
More on that next. But first... the headlines ...#######
WITH SAN DIEGO COUNTY OFFERING MORE THAN 200 PLACES WHERE YOU CAN VOTE IN-PERSON, THERE AREN’T MANY EXCUSES TO NOT CAST YOUR BALLOT TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
TODAY, THE REGISTRAR OF VOTERS OFFICE AND VOTING CENTERS OPEN AT 7 A-M AND CLOSE AT 8 P-M
THERE YOU CAN ALSO REGISTER TO VOTE AND VOTE ON THE SAME DAY.
THOSE WHO ALREADY HAVE THEIR BALLOT FILLED OUT, CAN DROP IT OFF AT THE REGISTRAR’S OFFICE, A VOTE CENTER OR AN OFFICIAL BALLOT DROP BOX UNTIL 8 P.M.
IF YOU ARE OPTING TO MAIL IN YOUR BALLOT, YOU NEED TO ENSURE THAT IT’S POSTMARKED BY TODAY, NOVEMBER THIRD TO GUARANTEE ITS COUNTED
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AND OF COURSE AS PART OF THIS YEAR’S MIDTERM ELECTIONS, KPBS HAS A BEVY OF NON-BIASED RESOURCES YOU CAN UTILIZE BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER ELECTION DAY
AS YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD ON YESTERDAY’S POD, I SAT DOWN WITH OUR DIGITAL EDITOR ELMA TO GO OVER HOW OUR KPBS VOTER HUB CAN HELP YOU MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ON THE RACES WHERE YOU ARE STILL UNDECIDED
YOU CAN FIND THAT BY GOING TO KPBS DOT ORG SLASH VOTER HUB
ONCE THERE, JUST LOOK FOR THE “FIND WHAT’S ON YOUR BALLOT” TAB AND ENTER YOUR ZIP CODE TO SEE THE RACES ON YOUR BALLOT AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM!
YOU CAN ALSO FIND THE NEAREST VOTING CENTER OR BALLOT DROP OFF BOX THERE.
AFTER THE POLLS CLOSE AT 8 P.M., YOU CAN GET THE LATEST RESULTS AT KPBS.ORG
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THIS NEXT PIECE OF NEWS IS FOR ANYONE WHO ALREADY HAS THEIR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS UP!
DECEMBER NIGHTS IS BACK FOR ITS 49TH YEAR !
AND THIS YEAR, AMERICAN IDOL RUNNER-UP CLAY AIKEN WILL HEADLINE THE FREE HOLIDAY FESTIVAL
IT WILL TAKE PLACE ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER FOURTH FROM 4 TO 10 P-M AND SATURDAY DECEMBER FIFTH FROM NOON TO TEN P-M
AIKEN’S PERFORMANCE WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE ORGAN PAVILION STAGE ON THE SECOND NIGHT AT 7:25 P-M
RIGHT NOW, THE CITY ESTIMATES THE EVENT WILL ATTRACT AROUND 350-THOUSAND VISITORS
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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THE COUNTY’S TOP ELECTION OFFICIAL SAYS HIS OFFICE IS PREPARED IN CASE ANYONE TRIES TO HARASS VOTERS AT POLLING PLACES .
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER KEVIN TREVELLYAN SAYS IT COMES AS FEDERAL ELECTION MONITORS PREPARE TO SHOW OUT IN SAN DIEGO.
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OBSERVE TOT (0:49) SOQ
Nationally, there’s been an unprecedented surge in federal monitors this year, according to PBS News.
San Diego County registrar Shawn Brom (BRAHM) is expecting at least eight teams to monitor local polling places.
Shawn Brom | San Diego County Registrar
261102 Shawn Brom.mp4 - (6:55.820 - 7:10.868) - “We just want to make sure that regardless of the number of election observers that are at any specific location is that they're not interfering with the voters' right to cast a ballot free from any intimidation or harassment.
The Associated Press reports the Democratic Party and voting rights organizations have been mobilizing masses of their own poll watchers in response to federal efforts.
Brom says his office has contingencies in place if any kind of observer tries to overstep their bounds.
In California, poll watchers are not allowed to talk to voters or otherwise interfere in the process.
The polls close at 8 p.m. on Election day.
KT, KPBS News.
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ICE OPERATIONS IN SAN DIEGO ARE UNDER SCRUTINY PARTICULARLY WHEN LOCAL POLICE ARE CALLED TO THE SCENE.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS A CITY COUNCILMEMBER IS CALLING FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY.
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ICESDPD 1 (ab) 0:50 soq
AB: In July of last year, the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance aimed at limiting cooperation between SDPD and ICE. The law requires the police chief to publicly report when officers are called to a scene where federal agents are doing immigration enforcement. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera sponsored the ordinance. He says Police Chief Scott Wahl has not issued any such reports to the public.
SER: I don't think we can have safety without trust, and trust requires transparency. … With the chief refusing to provide these reports, provide the information publicly, there is no transparency, and it's eroding trust, which therefore erodes safety.
AB: Chief Wahl says going forward, SDPD will notify the council anytime officers are called to a scene involving federal immigration agents. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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STUDENTS AT CAL STATE SAN MARCOS ARE RAISING MONEY TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH RARE DISEASES.
THE FUNDRAISER WAS INSPIRED BY A MARINE VETERAN WHO'S PART OF THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY AND IS NOW BATTLING A RARE CANCER.
MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER HAS MORE FROM THE CAMPUS.
VETCANCER 1 (ad) (1:01) SOQ
It’s wet and drizzly at Cal State San Marcos but the Kappa Sigma fraternity kickball tournament is happening rain-or-shine.
The students along with Marine veteran Jason Beyer are raising money for the National Organization for Rare Disorders, or NORD.
Beyer runs the veterans history project at the university. He records stories from veterans that are archived at the school and the Library of Congress.
Recently, he was diagnosed with Porocarcinoma, a very rare form of skin cancer.
10 years ago, he also battled testicular cancer.
During my undergraduate, I also happened to be a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and they really came through and supported me during my time when I had testicular cancer.
Beyer thinks his cancers are connected to hazardous exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan. The students raised more than $4,000 last week. It will go to help other people with rare diseases.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
TAG: BEYER [ BUYER ] UNDERWENT HIS FIRST SURGERY FOR THE CANCER YESTERDAY (MONDAY).
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ACROSS GENERATIONS, HIGH SCHOOLS IN SOUTHEASTERN SAN DIEGO HAVE PRODUCED A STATISTICS DEFYING NUMBER OF PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES – DESPITE THE OBSTACLES. IN PART ONE OF THIS SPECIAL SERIES, REPORTER KATIE HYSON TAKES US BACK TO THE EARLY DAYS OF A REMARKABLE LEGACY.
FIVEMILE PT1 trt 4:50 SOQ (kh/mb)
Dvd.mp4 00:00:03:17 - 00:00:10:02 . . .
Nat :07 In the 20th century, the sports superstar has become an American hero . . . fade under
I’m sitting on the couch at Wally Henry’s house. He’s a Lincoln High alum and former Eagles wide receiver and kick returner. We’re watching an old TV special about him.
Dvd.mp4 00:00:25:16 - 00:00:40:22
Nat :15 For Afro Americans, in particular, a people who have been brutalized by 200 years of institutionalized racism and the violent denial of the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the athlete was the most visible image of success and manhood . . .
We’re surrounded by photos of Wally’s life. Some from his 1950s and ‘60s childhood in Logan Heights.
Dvd.mp4 00:00:52:01 - 00:00:55:01
Nat :03 Sports was seen as the way out of the ghetto . . .
At that time, sports made college possible for kids like Wally.
CG: WALLY HENRY / LINCOLN CLASS OF ‘73
MDAMRON_5797.MXF 14;53;09;14 - 14;53;23;18
SOT :14 We were all trying to get out of southeast San Diego. We were trying to make something of our lives. Our parents didn't have that kind of money to send us to college, so the only way we can get to college is to get a scholarship.
College was also one of the only ways out of the Vietnam draft.
The Wally on the screen is younger. Sporting a crop top training tee and an impressive afro.
DJI_20260928140347_0025_D.MP4 20;40;10;20 - 20;40;16;28
SOT :06 I had a different hairstyle back then. Supa fly look! [laughter]
Surrounded by NFL giants, Wally was small. Five-eight and a hundred-seventy pounds.
Dvd.mp4 00:11:11:00 - 00:11:19:09
Nat : 08 Hey, this little guy he can't do nothing. Then they see me knocking down people. That's how I made the team doin extra.
(dvd.mp4 00:15:41:10 - 00:16:16:07) In one incredible punt return, we watch Wally burst from the melee, dodge players twice his size, and zip all the way down the field for a touchdown.
Just making the NFL is an extraordinary feat. Each year, out of over a million high school football players, only a few hundred do. That’s according to the National Football Foundation.
It’s like getting struck by lightning.
But Wally is very matter-of-fact about it.
Dvd.mp4 00:16:16:22 - 00:16:24:00
Nat :08 Deep down inside, I knew that this was just another test for me. I have to overcome. And I will, and I did . . . fade out
He credits that mentality all the way back to the Boys and Girls Club in Logan Heights.
MDAMRON_5798.MXF 15;10;41;27 - 15;11;02;20
SOT :21 Having confidence in yourself to do what you can do and not not be a bullshitter. You know you can't fool yourself. I mean, and people would say, it's got a big head or you're cocky. Well, so be it. If you think you're the best and you act the best, and you are the best, you are the best. Period.
He says the communities in southeastern San Diego then were close knit.
MDAMRON_5796.MXF 14;32;40;25 - 14;33;01;29
SOT :14 Everybody kind of kept up with everybody. It was more like the village raising, you know, the kids, you know, parents worked hard, you know. Actually, we didn't really knew, you know, too young to realize that you were poor.
By the late ‘60s, like now, the area was mostly Black and Latino and low-income.
It wasn’t always that way.
When Lincoln High School opened in 1955, it served mostly white students.
But San Diego demographics were changing. Redlining and freeway construction funneled racial minorities into the southeastern neighborhoods. And white families, out.
Willy Jones is Lincoln class of ‘65. He says he witnessed white flight.
CG: WILLIE JONES / LINCOLN CLASS OF ‘65
MDAMRON_5859.MXF 17;44;33;10 - 17;44;48;12
SOT :15 It was a predominantly white school in ‘64. By the time that I graduated, you could count the number of different students on, on a couple of hands.
Alumni say the visual of a lot of Black and brown people in one area drew overpolicing and stereotypes.
MDAMRON_5796.MXF 14;48;50;29 - 14;49;01;28
SOT :11 The news media was bombarding, you know, society with, you know, this Lincoln High School, southeast San Diego is, you know, it's a rough place to live.
Even many Black families, like Wally’s, avoided Lincoln. At first, his mom sent him to San Diego High.
But the Civil Rights movement was unfolding across the country. And Lincoln gave Black students a chance to explore their identity.
It offered African American studies. And it hired the district’s first African American high school principal.
MDAMRON_5853.MXF 16;32;25;28 - 16;32;27;05
SOT :02 It was a wakening time.
Future Olympian Jackie Thompson ran track for the school then.
She says at most schools, students weren’t allowed to wear afros. They couldn’t be themselves. It was different at Lincoln.
CG: JACKIE THOMPSON / LINCOLN CLASS OF ‘72
MDAMRON_5853.MXF 16;54;54;12 - 16;55;01;05
SOT :07 We were proud of who we were . . . Finally, you know, somebody saying I'm Black and I'm proud!
Wally says the Civil Rights Movement sparked a decision for athletes from southeastern San Diego.
MDAMRON_5796.MXF 14;38;26;04 - 14;38;39;09
SOT :13 Look, if we all went to Lincoln, we can dominate the city, you know, and then show them what you know this Black power is really all about, you know, in a positive way.
Instead of running from the stigma, they’d return and prove it wrong.
MDAMRON_5796.MXF 14;40;10;12 - 14;40;18;16
SOT :08 Let's change the idea of what they think about us. Period.
That decision was a turning point in a remarkable legacy. More than 70 athletes from southeastern high schools have gone pro.
That’s part two, tomorrow.
Katie Hyson, 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.
