Federal records show last year was the deadliest ever for ICE Detention Centers
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, APRIL 14TH>>>> [ WHAT FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO LAST YEAR BEING THE DEADLIEST YEAR EVER FOR ICE DETENTION CENTERS? ]More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
SCRIPPS HEALTH JUST RECEIVED NEARLY 13-MILLION DOLLARS TO STUDY HOW STEM CELLS CAN REPAIR KNEE INJURIES.
THE FUNDING COMES BY WAY OF THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE AND GOES TOWARDS FUNDING LABORATORY-BASED TISSUE, CARTILAGE AND BONE INJURY REPAIR SURGERIES IN ANIMALS
A STATEMENT FROM SCRIPPS SAYS THAT THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH IS
TO SHOW THAT IMPLANTING ENGINEERED, SCAFFOLD-FREE TISSUE TO
REPAIR INJURIES IN ANIMAL MODELS IS BOTH SAFE AND EFFECTIVE
FOLLOWING THE GRANT'S FIVE-YEAR PERIOD, RESEARCHERS SAY THEY
PLAN TO SUBMIT A NEW DRUG OR BIOLOGICAL PRODUCT TO THE FDA/FOOD
AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION...
IF APPROVED, SCRIPPS COULD THEN BEGIN CLINICAL TRIALS IN HUMANS
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STARTING TODAY, SAN DIEGO IS SERVING AS HOST TO THE MAGNET SCHOOLS OF AMERICA'S ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
THE CONFERENCE WHICH FEATURES KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AND EXPERT-LED
SESSIONS ON LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT KICKED OFF YESTERDAY AND GOES THROUGH THIS FRIDAY
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, MORE THAN FOURTEEN-HUNDRED ADMINISTRATORS AND EDUCATORS WILL TOUR SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS ACROSS THE CITY
MAGNET SCHOOLS ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS THAT OFFER SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS LIKE PERFORMING ARTS, STEM, WORLD LANGUAGES AND OTHERS
ACCORDING TO SD UNIFIED MORE THAN SEVENTEEN THOUSANDS STUDENTS IN SAN DIEGO/HERE ARE CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN MAGNETS
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LAST WEEK YOUR SAN DIEGO PADRES DEBUTED THEIR NEW CITY CONNECT
2.0 JERSEYS
THE JERSEYS ARE DIA DE LOS MUERTOS THEMED, FEATURING A SHOULDER-PATCH OF DAY OF THE DAY ICON, LA CATRINA WITH A FLORAL CROWN; SURROUNDED BY OFRENDA CANDLES
THE PADRES SAY THE NEW 2.0 JERSEYS ARE CELEBRATION OF TWO
COUNTRIES, TWO CULTURES, TOGETHER AS ONE ... IN HONOR OF OUR
BI-NATIONAL REGION
OUR MEDIA PARTNER KGTV CAUGHT UP WITH PADRES C-E-O ERIC GREUPNER WHO SAYS THE JERSEYS ARE ALSO MEANT TO HONOR THE ROLE OF THE MATRIARCH IN HISPANIC AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE:
"AND THAT REALLY RESONATES WITH A LOT OF OUR PLAYERS, MANNY
MACHADO AND FERNANDO TATIS JR HAVE VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS
WITH THEIR MOTHERS"
THE PADRES FIRST WORE THE UNI'S THIS PAST FRIDAY AGAINST THE
COLORADO ROCKIES, WINNING THE SERIES IN A SWEEP
REPORTER JAKE GOTTA WILL BRING US A PRICE OF SAN DIEGO STORY THAT LOOKS INTO THE COST OF CATCHING A PADRES HOME GAME AT PETCO PARK.
MORE ON THAT, LATER THIS WEEK…
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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FEDERAL RECORDS SHOW 20-25 WAS THE DEADLIEST YEAR ON RECORD AT ICE DETENTION CENTERS, WITH 33 PEOPLE DYING IN CUSTODY.
AN INVESTIGATION BY THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE SAYS MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE DEATHS HAPPENED DUE TO SEVERE MEDICAL DELAYS INSIDE THE CENTERS.
KO LYN CHE-ONG WAS ONE OF THE JOURNALISTS WHO WORKED ON THE STORY.
MONDAY, SHE TOLD KPBS MIDDAY EDITION THAT THE CHRONICLE OBTAINED MEDICAL RECORDS IN THE CASES, AND SENT THEM TO DOCTORS FOR ANALYSIS.
iCEMEDICAL 1A (midday) :14
“The doctors found and raised alarm bells about numerous cases where people did not receive medical care they should have received, where they did not get 911 calls when they should have, um when they received misdiagnoses.”
YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION ON K-P-B-S MIDDAY EDITION, WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS.
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ANOTHER BYPRODUCT OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IS A BIG INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DEPORTATION FLIGHTS.
REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS MORE AND MORE OF THOSE FLIGHTS ARE COMING FROM SAN DIEGO’S MILITARY AIRPORTS... LIKE MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR.
ICEFLIGHT (gas) 3:42 SOQ
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If you live in Miramar, you’re probably familiar with this sound.
NatPopLoud Jet.
That’s an F 18 Super Hornet. And this is what it sounds like when the same jet flies over your house.
NatPopLoud Jet.
David Kennedy has lived under the flight path for a decade.
MDAMRON_4112 00:19:20 / 02:02:19:15“I’ve always kinda liked planes and I live right next to Miramar so I’ve gotten used to listening to them and knowing what an F18 sounds like, what a C130 sounds like and about a year ago I started noticing a plane that just sounded different.”
It wasn’t a hypersonic jet or some new top-secret military prototype. It sounded like a regular commercial airplane – the kind you’d hear near San Diego International Airport.
MDAMRON_4112 00:00:39:08 / 02:09:39:03“So I started to look out my window and saw these commercial flights.”
And he did a little digging. Noticed that these flights were going to Mexico, Panama, even India. He looked up the private carrier and realized it does a lot of work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
That’s when Kennedy reached out to KPBS – asked us to confirm whether ICE was using MCAS Miramar for deportation flights. Which we did. By reaching out to Human Rights First – an immigrant rights nonprofit that tracks ICE flights across the country.
ICETRACKER 00:04:10:02“The scale has just dramatically picked up in the past year.
Savi Avery runs the organization’s ICE Flight Monitor program.
ICETRACKER 00:01:59:06“This has been a really important initiative in giving people access to data to understand the scale and the scope of what is going on and how it’s affecting local communities.”
The Human Rights First data confirmed Kennedy’s observations. They documented 85 ICE flights out of MCAS Miramar in 2025. There were zero in 2024.
Of those 85 flights - 53 were for deportations and the rest were to transport detainees to various detention centers within the U.S.
ICETRACKER 00:08:11:05“Around July flights out of there really began to ramp up.”
During the second half of 2025 – ICE averaged 12 flights out of MCAS Miramar each month.
In a statement, MCAS Miramar confirmed that it acts as a location for civilian, military and federal flights. But did not comment specifically on the increased flights by ICE.
Avery says this is an example of the Trump administration using the country’s military infrastructure being used to advance his mass deportation agenda.
ICETRACKER 00:08:51:05“Last fall what we saw is that some other military airports started also being places where ICE flights were taking off from.”
Although San Diego is home to the largest land border crossing in North America, it hasn’t historically been a deportation flight hub. For example, every ICE flight out of San Diego in 2024 was for domestic shuttle flights – meaning flying detainees to different areas within the United States.
But after Trump took office last year, there were more than 120 deportation flights out of both MCAS Miramar and San Diego International combined.
ICETRACKER 00:06:27:01“Under Trump, what’s been really striking is actually that San Diego has become a place where deportation flights take off from.
Avery says the ICE Flight Monitor program will continue tracking deportation flights in civilian and military airports.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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STATE AND LOCAL LEADERS GATHERED IN FRONT OF THE SAN DIEGO CIVIC THEATRE ON MONDAY TO ANNOUNCE LEGISLATION TO REVIVE CALIFORNIA’S DYING DOWNTOWNS.
REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS THE BILL FOCUSES ON BUILDING MORE AFFORDABLE, DENSER HOUSING IN CITIES’ URBAN CENTERS.
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HOUSING 1(an) TRT: 0:55 SOQ
NATS “Walk sign is on to cross. Beep, beep”
Walk through some parts of downtown San Diego …
NATS 6600 10;08;32;22 → 10;08;35;04 “beep, beep”
And you'll see boarded-up windows and graffiti on buildings where there were once vibrant shops
San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney has introduced a bill … A-B 20-74 … to revitalize the urban cores in major cities across the state … including San Diego … by building more housing.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria says the more people who live in downtown, the more retail storefronts will pop up, and, along with them, more jobs.
TODD GLORIA // San Diego Mayor
“I don't think it's an accident that on the other side of this building, we have three towers going in nearly a thousand units, and with them is coming a grocery store for this corner of downtown that has never had one. So these are connected matters.”
The bill would streamline the approval process for projects for building high-rise affordable housing and mixed-use developments near downtown transit hubs.
Haney chose San Diego to announce the bill because he says the city has been doing many of the things the bill seeks to do. AN/KPBS
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HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THAT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEATH ARE MOVING INTO MORE SOCIAL SETTINGS
SHE BRINGS US THIS STORY OF ONE LOCAL GROUP MAKING THE TOPIC AND CONVERSATION LESS INTIMIDATING…BY HOSTING THEM AT A BAR.
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DEATHBREWS 1 TRT: 1:07 SOQ
It looks like a typical night out at Poseidon Project.
Drinks are poured at the Bay Park pub…conversations flow. But the topic here is anything but typical.
SOT: Raise your hand if you know what medical aid in dying is.
About 50 people pack in for an event called Death Over Drafts. It’s a modern twist on traditional death cafés.
Christa Folkers is with Autonomy Health. It’s a medical practice that helps patients navigate end-of-life decisions. They’re hosting the event.
She says it's designed to feel more like a happy hour.
CHRISTA FOLKERS
We knew that by offering an event that was at a bar with alcohol might appeal to the younger generation who seems more curious than they ever have.
That curiosity is what drew in Paul Ammons. He’s 26.
PAUL AMMONS
I believe there's more people in my generation that are finding interest in these conversations, but coming to places like a brewery…it just makes the conversation easier .
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
TAG: IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS HELP, CONTACT THE 988 SUICIDE & CRISIS LIFELINE BY CALLING OR TEXTING THE NUMBER 9-8-8.
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THE EXCITEMENT AROUND SPACE EXPLORATION DOESN’T HAVE TO END WITH THE RETURN OF THE ARTEMIS TWO CREW AS IT’S NOW, INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY WEEK.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF STARGAZING EVENTS PLANNED THROUGHOUT SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
DARKSKY 1 trt:49 SOQ
About ten miles northeast of downtown San Diego, you can find a surprisingly dark, urban place to stargaze in Mission Trails Regional Park.
The park is shielded from city lights by its vast mountain range.
This Friday night, the Park is hosting a star party. It’s part of International Dark Sky Week.
Jennifer Morrissey is with the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.
DARKSKY 1 00:12
“It's an opportunity to get out. Learn more about the night sky, how you can help create dark skies and just a better environment for ourselves and nature.”
Dark Sky San Diego County has partnered with several organizations to host stargazing events through April 18th.
FOR A ROUNDUP OF stargazing EVENTS happening this week, VISIT KPBS.ORG Tammy Murga/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. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing; by doing so you are supporting public media and I really want to thank you for that. Have a great day!
