How a settlement could keep water rates from increasing

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday July Seventeenth

>>>> HOW A LEGAL SETTLEMENT COULD KEEP WATER RATES FROM INCREASING

More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######

A STRIKE BY CHULA VISTA SANITATION WORKERS HAS COME TO A STINKY HALT

SOME UNION WORKERS AT REPUBLIC SERVICES WERE SHOWING SOLIDARITY WITH A STRIKE HAPPENING IN BOSTON.

THIS HALTED TRASH PICKUP FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN CHULA VISTA, AS REPUBLIC IS THE CITY’S ONLY TRASH COMPANY.

TRASH TRUCKS WERE OUT ACROSS THE CITY YESTERDAY.

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STAYING ON THE TRASH BEAT, MANY SAN DIEGANS WILL SOON BE GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR TRASH SERVICE IN THE MAIL

WHAT IT WILL COST, HOW IT WILL BE BILLED… AND YOUR CHOICES FOR NEW BINS

IT’S ALL CONNECTED TO THE CITY’S NEW TRASH AND RECYCLING FEE

CUSTOMERS CAN CHOOSE THEIR BIN SIZE ON A NEW CITY WEBSITE AND WHAT YOU CHOOSE WILL DETERMINE WHAT YOU PAY.

A STANDARD BIN IS 95-GALLONS… THE FEE FOR THAT IS JUST UNDER 44 DOLLARS A MONTH.

YOU’LL NEED TO PICK YOUR BIN BY END OF SEPTEMBER. FEES WILL SHOW UP ON YOUR PROPERTY TAX BILL

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SDSU STANDOUT KAWHI LEONARD HAS SPENT A FAIR AMOUNT OF HIS VERY ACCOMPLISHED CAREER ON INJURY RESERVE

AND NOW FORMER L-A CLIPPERS’ TRAINER RANDY SHELTON IS SAYING HE WAS WRONGFULLY FIRED FOR WHAT HE CALLS UNSAFE AND ILLEGAL TREATMENT WITH A DISREGARD FOR KAWHI’S HEALTH AND SAFETY.

AND THE TRAINER JUST WON A ROUND IN COURT ON THAT BASIS

A JUDGE RULED THAT THE TRAINERS ATTORNEY’S CAN QUESTION THE CLIPPERS PRESIDENT OF BASKETBALL OPERATIONS, LAWRENCE FRANK, UNDER OATH

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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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IT’S NO SECRET THAT WATER IS EXPENSIVE IN SAN DIEGO. BUT NOW, A RECENT SETTLEMENT COULD HELP GET A LITTLE MONEY BACK. IN OUR LATEST WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO’S SCOTT LEWIS EXPLAINS.

VOSDWATERDRAMA 1 (public matters) (1:16) last words “why it matters”

As we have explained before, we have too much water in San Diego. And we are paying very high rates for it. 

So it was a big deal recently when the San Diego County Water Authority settled its 15-year lawsuit with the Metropolitan Water District. 

The Metropolitan Water District is a huge agency that delivers water from the Colorado River and Northern California. And the San Diego County Water Authority delivers it to each district in San Diego. 

The settlement will save millions in legal fees. And will pave the way for San Diego to sell some of the expensive water it has secured over the last 30 years. 

That could help keep rates from rising. Right now, your water rates are projected to go up another 50 percent by 2030.. 

The new peace with the big water agency to the north is a big change for the San Diego County Water Authority. And a discussion about lawyers fees sent one of the directors of the Water Authority, Jim Madaffer, into a fury, saying the general counsel should find another job. He also used some colorful language.

That provoked a letter from several local water managers demanding Madaffer be forced to apologize. Nothing more genuine than a forced apology.

What’s really happening is many people at the Water Authority want to move beyond Frahm and the legal battles of the past. But it’s not that simple, and our water rates are at stake. 

I’m scott lewis for voice of san diego and that’s why it matters.

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A PRIVATE AIRCRAFT THAT LIFTED OFF SUNDAY FROM THE RAMONA AIRPORT HAS BEEN LOST OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN. TUESDAY THE COAST GUARD SUSPENDED THE SEARCH FOR IT. SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE HAS THE STORY.

 PLANEFOLO 1 (tf)  :59  …soq. 

The Cessna 240 that left the airport is a single engine, four seat plane registered to Peter G. Schultz, a well-known San Diego scientist and the CEO of Scripps Research in La Jolla. Schultz was not on the plane, which Scripps research staff said he had lent to someone else.

The airplane was tracked as it flew west over the Pacific Ocean, about 400 miles out to sea, before the plane disappeared from radar. Lance Nguyen, commercial pilot, based at Montgomery Field in San Diego, tracked the plane on the FlightAware website. He said if the pilot became incapacitated, he had already put the plane on autopilot. 

“He was using autopilot because he was on the same heading and the same altitude for the next two hours or so. And as pilots, as perfect as we try to be, we can’t keep as straight a line as that.”

KPBS has been unable to confirm the name of the man who piloted the plane or find out who else may have been on board. SOQ.

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THE ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION ESTIMATES 200 THOUSAND PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN 65 ARE LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER’S NATIONWIDE. BUT UNLIKE PATIENTS 65 AND OLDER, THEY DON’T QUALIFY FOR MEDICARE RIGHT AWAY. HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THAT CREATES AN EXPENSIVE DILEMMA FOR PEOPLE WITH YOUNG ONSET ALZHEIMER’S.

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ALZLETTER (hd) trt: 4:51 SOQ

MICHELE HUGHES

Like when you're setting up for the day that you're doing your Ironman, you have all your stuff set up, your bike sitting there and you have this and you have that and then all of a sudden you look up and you're like, oh, I forgot my goggles! And you freak out, you know that feeling, every single day today.

Michele Hughes is 59 years old and lives in Santee. She used to compete in triathlons and Ironman races. 

Eight months ago, she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

MICHELE HUGHES

Here I am now, in the hardest race I’ve ever been in.

She spent months noticing something was off. Until one day at work…

MICHELE HUGHES

It was like I never learned the skill that I had for 28 years…for the life of me, I was struggling to try to figure it out.

She eventually lost her job as a cardiology clinical specialist. And with it, her health insurance. 

MICHELE HUGHES

You gotta balance…okay, how long are you going to live? How much money do you have? Those are realities. 

She was diagnosed at the Neuron Clinic in Chula Vista where she now receives Leqembi infusions every two weeks. 

SOT: Ok, Michele, so we are going to go ahead and start the IV…

It’s the first FDA-approved drug that slows the progression of early stage Alzheimer’s. She gets it through Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. But approval wasn't easy.

MICHELE HUGHES

I had to go to the state of California and write up a big thing about how my life is and what happened.

Medi-Cal can cover Leqembi for those who qualify. But many don’t.

That’s because people under 65 with a disability like Alzheimer’s must wait five months to get Social Security Disability Insurance. Then another 24 months before Medicare kicks in.

JIM TAYLOR

Voices of Alzheimer’s

But we know that there are 2 exceptions to that rule. End stage renal disease and ALS.

Jim Taylor leads the advocacy group Voices of Alzheimer’s. He says nearly 100 patients signed a letter to Congress this year asking lawmakers to add early-onset Alzheimer’s to that list.

JIM TAYLOR

So that they can begin treatment as early as possible and as effectively as possible.

He says there’s no congressional opposition so far but it will come down to cost.

DR. ERIK PERKINS

Sharp Health

Three years worth of therapy would buy you one year of stability. So that's one year I could stay at home. That's one year potentially I get to keep driving.

Dr. Erik Perkins is a neurologist at Sharp Health. He says early treatment is more critical for this age group.

DR. ERIK PERKINS

There would be a sense, increased sense of urgency for early onset because it does progress faster in younger people. 

But the treatment costs more than $26,000 a year.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review evaluated leqembi’s value and found it is priced too high for what it delivers. Dr. David Rind is the nonprofit’s chief medical officer.  

DR. DAVID RIND

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review

So if it keeps you out of the hospital, or it keeps you out of a long-term care facility, there's monetary savings there, but there are still costs in paying for the therapy. There are costs in scans to make sure that you're not bleeding into your brain. You’re not getting swelling in your brain.

He says a fair price would be between $9,000 and $21,500 per year. At that price…

DR. DAVID RIND

This isn't an unreasonable thing for insurers to cover. It's a drug that works. It does slow the decline in Alzheimer's disease.

But, he also warns:

DR. DAVID RIND

You wouldn’t necessarily want to go through your life savings to mildly, to modestly slow your decline in Alzheimer’s disease.

Medicare estimates it will spend $3.5 billion on Leqembi this year. That could grow if younger patients gain coverage. But a 2022 University of Chicago analysis found early treatment could save the system billions by avoiding hospital and long-term care costs.

SOT: Bike noise..I love riding my bike.

Michele still rides her bike. Runs 6 miles every other day. 

She says she feels blessed she is able to access a medication that gives her hope while many others are waiting. 

MICHELE HUGHES

It’s just… it’s weird. Sorry. To be waiting for somebody to give me something to slow my death. It's a weird thing, it’s so strange, but that’s how it is. 

Still, she’s determined to stay in the race, for herself, and for those behind her.

Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

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A HOME IN ESCONDIDO HAS BEEN RENOVATED EXCLUSIVELY FOR WOMEN VETERANS AND THEIR CHILDREN. MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER BRINGS US ON A TOUR.

VETHOUSE 1 (ad) 1:00 SOQ

AND HERE'S ONE OF THE OTHER BEDROOMS. IT'S A LITTLE BIT BIGGER. SO IF I HAVE SOMEBODY WITH TWO KIDS FIRST OR THEY'RE COMING IN HERE,

WOUNDED WARRIOR HOMES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RICK ESPITIA SHOWS US AROUND THIS SUBURBAN ESCONDIDO HOME. 

SO THAT'S IT IN HERE, OUTSIDE, YOU KNOW. SO NEW COUNTERTOPS, NEW SINK, NEW DOORS, HARDWARE, NEW SHOWER DOORS. … IT’LL BE NICE.

A VETERAN WOMAN AND HER KIDS WILL LIVE HERE FOR FREE WHILE SHE’S ENROLLED IN ONE OF SEVERAL OF THE NON-PROFIT’S PROGRAMS — JOB TRAINING, COLLEGE OR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.

WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE WOMEN COMING IN HERE WITH THEIR TWO KIDS ARE REALLY THE MOST, HAVE THE MOST NEED FOR THIS PLACE.

ARMY VETERAN GLENN RIVERA LIVES IN A VISTA HOUSE RUN BY WOUNDED WARRIOR HOMES. HE AND OTHER VETERANS DID A LOT OF THE REHAB HERE.

SO WE'RE DOING A LITTLE BIT HERE AND THERE. WHATEVER WE SEE THAT’S OUTDATED,  WE'RE TRYING TO BRING IT BACK TO A MODERN LOOK.

ESPITIA SAYS THEY’RE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS AND PLAN TO HAVE A VETERAN AND HER FAMILY IN THE NEW WOMEN’S HOME NEXT MONTH.

ANDREW DYER, 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. Today on Midday Edition hear an interview with TJ Tallie, a community historian whose research project is a highlight of San Diego Pride! You can find that on the KPBS Midday Edition podcast. Midday Edition podcast. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.