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Families of Marines killed in Osprey crash sue manufacturers

 May 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM PDT

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, May 28th.

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Families of four Marines killed in a 20-22 Osprey crash are taking the aircraft’s manufacturers to court. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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San Diegans affected by the January floods still have time to apply for financial aid for household expenses.

Friday is the last day to apply for a grant from the Realtors Relief Foundation.

The grants limit the amount awarded to one payment equal to the amount of their monthly housing payment.

The grant is capped at 29-hundred-dollars.

According to local Realtor associations, more than 100 applications are on schedule for approval, but they’re hoping to double it before the deadline.

For more information about the application process, visit www-dot-PS-AR-dot-org-slash-flood-relief.

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The Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, also known as CLERB, is meeting this evening (Tuesday).Today, the board will randomly select and announce one member of the public and one alternate to represent each district, for the interview panel of its new executive officer. CLERB is an 11-member board that investigates citizen complaints against Sheriff’s deputies and probation officers.

The executive officer is responsible for managing and directing the department, and also investigating in-custody deaths and serious injuries by law enforcement officers. 

The position became available after the last executive officer resigned in March.

Today’s meeting is from 5-30 to 7-30 P-M, at the County Administration Center in downtown.

You can also join virtually.

For more information, including the Zoom link, visit the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board Meeting Information site.

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There’s going to be a warm up in the weather this week.

The National Weather Service says starting today (Tuesday), temperatures will slightly increase each day.

In the inland areas it’ll be in the mid 70s, in the mountains, temperatures will be in the low 70s, in the deserts, temps will be in the low hundreds, and by the coast, it’ll be in the mid 60s.

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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 families of four of the five Marines killed in a 20-22 Osprey crash say the aircraft is “defective” and “dangerous,” and are taking its manufacturers to court.

Military reporter Andrew Dyer spoke to one of the attorneys for the families.

“We need to keep in mind that the root case of this problem still hasn’t been identified.” ari friedman represents four families of camp pendleton marines who were killed when their osprey crashed in imperial county almost two years ago. according to a marine corps investigation, a so-called “hard clutch engagement” caused the crash. while the pentagon has found workarounds to minimize risk, friedman says it’s not good enough, and the families want answers. ari friedman, attorney for families “they want this aircraft to be made safer. so, these types of things don't happen and future, marines, and their families. don't have to go through what they went through. manufacturers bell, boeing and rolls royce are named in the suit. since march 2022 four osprey crashes have killed 20 service members  andrew dyer, kpbs news.

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The city of San Diego is expanding free swimming lessons in lower-income neighborhoods.

Reporter Katie Hyson visited a class to learn why.

On a Thursday, students leave class at Rosa Parks Elementary to face their fears at the City Heights pool. Before the lessons,  I could only stand the water. If it, if it was too deep, I'd just like, sink. Fourth-grader Mateo Hernandez. Hardest part is always like, when the teacher eventually needs to let you go so you can learn these things by yourself. It's always like, ‘I can't do it. I can't do it!’ . . . Now, he can front float, back float, and “pancake.” Life-saving skills. Aquatics supervisor Sinthya Caranza says many children in this program have never been to the beach or even a pool. Swimming lessons should not be perceived as something that's a privilege. It should be perceived as something that is a necessity. According to the CDC, only about a quarter of Latino adults have had swimming lessons. And drowning deaths significantly increased after COVID. Maybe because pools closed. These lessons could be saving lives of children like Andrea Hernandez. I feel like, uh, like I'm good at swimming now? Yeah. She has advice for other kids new to swimming. To try their best, to not be scared, aaaand, um to not be nervous! Katie Hyson, KPBS News.

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Divers off the San Diego coast have recently been treated to a rare sight.

Untold thousands of tuna crabs covering the ocean floor.

Sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge spoke to divers and scientists, and he has this story.

Anna Sagatov is a diver and underwater photographer who, late last month, got in the water at La Jolla Shores beach and headed toward a nearby ocean canyon. What she saw there was spectacular. “As we got closer to the canyon started to descend and it was a carpet of tuna crabs. Red, as far as my dive lights could illuminate.” In her video, we see the red crabs, which look like small lobsters, wrestle and dart around. They get their name from being favorite prey for tuna, and she saw one devoured by a rockfish. Many divers reported the same site in the following weeks. Ed Parnell, with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, says warm water currents that come with El Niño have moved a lot of the subtropical creatures northward. “Well they came up from their center of distribution off Baja California, accompanied with the warm water that happened about ten years ago. But they really haven’t left in the deeper water.” That deeper water, he says, is where the tuna crabs are most likely bound, as El Nino wanes. SOQ.

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Keeping culture and storytelling alive… a Fallbrook elementary school is honoring its history through books and a new reading center.

North County reporter Tania Thorne says students got a blessing from some special guests late last week.

It's almost the end of the school year…But for La Paloma Elementary School students, it's the start of something new. With songs… dances…  gifts… and a blessing…local Native American tribal members celebrated the opening of a new reading center at the school's library. Regan Pedo, the school’s librarian, wanted to create a space that would keep history alive. There's a lot of history underneath here, La Paloma, this ground. We have several tribes surrounding us. So I knew once I made those connections.. It was gonna be a powerful thing to open a beautiful room to remind children this is where we are and remind us of how we can be better. She discovered the school was built on an ancient burial ground and wanted to give a little piece back. A dark and plain corner filled with colorful murals and books. And she hopes its a space where students not only learn about Native American history, but all histories.  TT KPBS News.

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For all their modern-day amenities, the primary function of airports is pretty much the same as it’s always been - it’s where you get on or off an airplane.

But at San Diego International, there is something more lofty going on than just the movement of passengers.

Reporter John Carroll shows us how they’re making the time passengers spend in between coming and going, more enjoyable.

The sounds of a modern airport - all too familiar to anyone who travels by airplane. But for the last couple of decades at San Diego International, there has been something more… art… that you can see and hear. …-what you’re hearing right now is the dancing and percussion of a group called Drumatix… spelled d-r-u-m-a-t-i-x…  They are part of the airport’s performing arts residency program. We caught them in the middle of their residency a couple of weeks ago. Noa Barankin is the group’s artistic director and choreographer. Noa Barankin Drumatix artistic director/choreographer “We performed five pieces that I created in the terminal over the last eight weeks.” Barankin gets inspiration from the passengers themselves. We watched as she walked around the United Airlines boarding area… asking travelers questions about their travel experience.  Their answers then become the basis for a performance. “I use an app on my phone through which I sample sounds, then I create a sequence out of them and then I play them, it’s like a little DJ moment.” “You never know what the passengers are going to respond.” And then the dancers have to respond to that little DJ moment.  It’s 100% improvised and then they don’t know the track that I’m going to sample or sequence, so when I do that, for them it’s the first time they’ve ever heard that track and they have to then improvise with tap dance on top of something they’ve never heard before, so it’s all 100% made in the moment.” Not everything is improvised. some segments are previously rehearsed but a lot of this is done… on the fly. “Everything else is not planned.  Right, where exactly we’ll be in the terminal, how long we’ll be in each spot.  So, all those things are dynamic and change from week to week.” Over in the Sunset Cove food court, art of another sort… Singer, flautist and composer Cobby Brezski and her trio are entertaining passengers… part of the airport’s concert series. Daniel Dennert is the curator of the airport’s arts program. He says both the concert series and the artists in residence program allow the airport to accomplish two goals. “We’re being a resource, not just to the passengers who are experiencing it, but also being a resource for our performing arts community, who is able to further develop and grow. We want to uplift our local artists to a global platform, so we do that by allowing them to have audiences that they might not traditionally find in the places they perform.” That last point is not lost on Cobby Brezski. Cobby Brezski Singer, flautist, composer “A lot of people are like filtering in and out, but it seems like, so far, during the first set, most of the people seemed to, they probably have like a longer layover or something, so it’s kind of cool that I’ve had the same crowd just stationary there.” “People are usually like tired from traveling and stressed out so you like wouldn’t expect them to be in the mood to like really engage, but I’m pleasantly surprised that people are engaging and seem to be enjoying it.” Whether it’s dancing percussionists, singers and musicians or the dozens of pieces of artwork found here on the walls and the ceiling, San Diego International is providing passengers with an elevating experience… without leaving the ground.  JC, KPBS News.

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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. In tomorrow’s podcast, our KPBS border reporter joins me to talk about Mexico’s Presidential Election and a bilingual virtual discussion our newsroom is hosting with politics experts to talk about the historic event. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Tuesday.

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The families of four of the five Marines killed in a 2022 Osprey crash say the aircraft is “defective” and “dangerous,” and are taking its manufacturers to court. In other news, the city of San Diego is expanding free swimming lessons in lower-income neighborhoods. Plus, we learn how the San Diego International Airport is elevating the passenger experience.