EPA follows California on emission limits
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, April THIRTEENTH.
Biden’s newest proposal to boost E-V sales by TWENTY-THIRTY TWO. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
Today, the San Diego City Council is voting on a ban on camping on public property.
If passed, it would be banned when shelter beds are available. It also would ban encampments at all times, within two blocks of schools, shelters, parks and along trolley tracks.
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn introduced the ordinance.
If somebody is currently sleeping on the sidewalk outdoors and we offer them another place to have a tent outdoors that is not on the sidewalk blocking anybody , that is not in a canyon , threatening fires , that is simply in a more secure place. Why wouldn't we believe that it is reasonable to ask that person to take advantage of that ?
He said the city is also trying to address its lack of shelter beds.
E-cigarette company JUUL will pay out FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO million dollars to California and five other states. The agreement also includes some restrictions on the company’s marketing, sales and distribution of its products.
JUUL has faced many lawsuits in recent years, but the settlement announced yesterday, (Wednesday) is the biggest so far. The San Diego Unified School District sued JUUL in 2020. In the suit, the district said JUUL has disrupted learning and caused the district financial loss.
The city of San Diego wants your help naming one of its newest E-Vs.
It’s a shuttle in the Pacific Beach neighborhood that will also pick up passengers from the Balboa Transit station. The free service will start this summer.
The names in the running are: BABS or the Balboa and Beach Shuttle, The Beach Bug, BEES or Beach Electric Energy Shuttle or the Beach Bolt.
Submit your choice on the city’s website by Monday (April SEVENTEENTH.)
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.
Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
The Biden administration is proposing strict new automobile pollution limits across the U-S.
Reporter Jacob Aere says in some ways, they’re even more ambitious than California’s current plan to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks.
On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed standards that could require electric vehicles to account for two-thirds of new car sales in the U.S. by 2032. UC San Diego professor and environmental economist Mark Jacobsen says the limits are the strictest ever proposed at the federal level. But California already has some regulations in place … that all new cars, pickup trucks and SUV sales in the state have to be electric or hydrogen by 2035. SOT Zoom Mark Jacobsen | UC San Diego Professor of Economics 7:43 - 8:03 (:20) “We're going to transition to electric vehicles, almost certainly, around the world at some point. Potentially very soon maybe not for another 10, 15 years – it's not clear right. So the federal government is trying to speed up that transition, particularly in states that are not California or not the states following California’s lead.” Jacobsen says the trick with the new federal proposal is going to be making enough affordable EV cars, adding a lot more charging stations … and most importantly, getting people to buy in. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
A former San Diego congressman who resigned in disgrace more than three years ago over a campaign finance scandal is facing renewed scrutiny over his actions while serving in Iraq in 2004.
Military and veterans reporter Andrew Dyer has more on the new revelations about Duncan Hunter.
(Reporter) Before Duncan D. Hunter was elected to Congress, he was a Marine artillery officer fighting in Iraq at the first Battle of Fallujah. At the time, Duncan L. Hunter, his father, was a Congressman and the chair of the armed services committee. (Reporter)In 2004 as a relatively new officer, First Lieutenant Hunter was under instruction coordinating mortar strikes. (Reporter)A Marine platoon holed-up in a schoolhouse called in a strike to a position nearby. According to a new investigation from the NPR podcast “Embedded” and its new series “Taking Cover”, Hunter checked the wrong mission card. He plotted the coordinates and approved the mortar strike. (Reporter)It landed in the middle of the schoolhouse’s courtyard killing two Marines and an Iraqi interpreter. (Reporter)Here’s NPR Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman from the “Taking Cover” Podcast. [taking cover clip] (11 seconds)“Clearly, if this had come out back in 2004, that the son of the chair of the House Armed Services Committee was involved in a deadly friendly fire accident, that would have been big news.” (Reporter) But it wasn’t news. The Marines didn’t even tell the families their loved ones were killed by friendly fire for three years. (Reporter) After a colonel recommended several of the Marines be punished over the incident, Military officials overruled that recommendation and no one was punished. Andrew Dyer, KPBS News
To hear more on Hunter’s role and the cover up, listen to episode four of The Taking Cover Podcast, out today.
The tax deadline has been extended, but if you qualify for free tax help … you might want to get it done sooner than later.
Reporter Melissa Mae explains why.
MM: This year, San Diego County residents do not have to have their taxes completed by April 18th…The IRS has given an extension until October 16th. MM: But according to Carolyn Winn from the United Way of San Diego County, San Diego county residents who make less than $60,000 dollars a year should still try to file sooner than later. CW (:09)“We still recommend that folks if they’re low and moderate income, to get their taxes filed by April 18th because that’s when the bulk of the free tax preparation services will be available.” MM: The United Way is a part of the EITC or Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition, which is made up of 35 different organizations throughout the county that provide free tax preparation services. MM: For those who are unsure if they qualify for the extension or would like to make an appointment for free tax preparation, should call 2-1-1. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
Coming up.... San Diego Opera’s spooky new show is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and ghosts. We’ll have that story, just after the break.
Nicolas Reveles (RUH-VEL-LUS *rhymes with “Nicolas”*) died last month from pancreatic cancer. He was the director of education at San Diego Opera for more than two decades.
This Friday, his opera “Ghosts” will have its world premiere at the Balboa Theatre. Arts reporter Beth Accomando previews the San Diego Opera production.
Last summer, Nicolas Reveles was debuting one opera at San Diego International Fringe Festival and prepping another for a world premiere at San Diego Opera. NICOLAS REVELES I'm very excited about that to be produced by my home company as well as it's a big professional opera company in the United States. And what delighted him even more was that the opera was in a genre he loved. NICOLAS The horror is up front and center. But last October Reveles was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died just six weeks before this Friday’s world premiere of Ghosts, an evening of three one-act, horror-inspired operas. But with a title like Ghosts, perhaps he knew he would be haunting the rehearsal hall. EMILY FONS Oh, undoubtedly. That’s mezzo soprano Emily Fons. EMILY FONS We joke about it. It's in the text. We can say, oh, that's Nic right there for sure, that moment…It feels like somehow we're still exchanging ideas and asking for his blessing on the choices we make. John de los Santos is directing the opera. JOHN DE LOS SANTOS Nick is definitely here with us, laughing, crying, getting very involved, and making sure that we're going to present an amazing premiere to commemorate him. CLIP And then total blackout. Nic would love it. Back in December, Reveles was in hospice but still working with de los Santos. [00:33:49.700] - NIC REVELES I just told him creepy. I want jump scares. I want everything a horror movie would have. Reveles and de los Santos bonded over some shared passions. JOHN DE LOS SANTOS Nic loved horror and I love horror but we also both loved opera. I think that something that both horror and opera have in common is they elicit strong emotions, strong feelings. NICOLAS REVELES I'm a great believer that you can approach anything through opera. I absolutely believe in the genre. I think when you sing things, the story, the drama is more heightened, it becomes more important, it becomes bigger. And I like that. The bigness of that. That was Reveles from May last year. In December the passion was still there but cancer was taking a toll. NIC REVELES It is an opera in black and white. And when I think horror, I think black and white. And when I say that, I mean that the sound colors, the colors from the orchestra, are even kind of black and white. CLIP Lunatic… mad, mad, mad… For the opera Eden, de los Santo was also the librettist. JOHN DE LOS SANTOS Ghosts are not figures in sheets. They are memories. They are regrets. They are unknown and unanswered questions that we have that we have to confront. In the opera House, Fons plays a mother. CLIP The children were strangely silent. EMILY FONS Nic and I did talk about how ghosts can be trauma, can be experiences, can be people who we aren't able to shed emotionally from our lives. David Bennett, general director of San Diego Opera, saw Ghosts as an opportunity to fulfill his goal of offering audiences a detour from traditional opera. DAVID BENNETT So that's why it's really an honor for us to produce this, because there's so much in this work that's unusual and unexpected, but there's also so much in it that is in many ways traditional. Reveles expressed hope that the opera would have a future beyond this weekend. And Ghosts would be the perfect legacy for a man who devoted his life to being an ambassador for opera and whose heart always belonged to horror. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
San Diego Opera’s world premiere of Nicolas Reveles’ “Ghosts” has three performances Friday through Sunday at the Balboa Theatre.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join me back here tomorrow, for a story on how the solar industry is trying to sign up more customers, before new energy rules take place. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
