How San Diegans are dealing with food assistance delays
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH>>>> HOW SAN DIEGANS ARE BEING IMPACTED BY THE DELAYS IN FOOD ASSISTANCE More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines.########
SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF 40 MAJOR AIRPORTS THAT WILL SEE THEIR AIR TRAFFIC REDUCED DUE TO THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.
THE FAA SAYS STARTING TODAY (FRIDAY), FLIGHTS AT THOSE AIRPORTS MAY BE REDUCED BY UP TO 10 PERCENT … TO MAINTAIN TRAVEL SAFETY AS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS GO UNPAID DURING THE SHUTDOWN.
KEVIN KARPE (CAR-PAY) IS A FORMER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, WHO’S BEEN THROUGH PAST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. HE SAYS THIS IS AN UNPRECEDENTED ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE FAA.
AIRPORT 2A (:15)
“If the shutdown continues, I think we'll see more than a 10% reduction in flights. I think the FAA administrator will be more proactive and try to reduce the stress on the national airspace system and the controllers.”
SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS ADVISING PASSENGERS TO “CHECK THEIR FLIGHT STATUS BEFORE COMING TO THE AIRPORT,” AND TO GET THERE NO LESS THAN TWO HOURS AHEAD OF TIME.
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AS THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY CONTINUES, THE ANNUAL VETERANS DAY CEREMONY AT MIRAMAR NATIONAL CEMETERY IS THE LATEST EVENT TO BE CANCELLED
IT’S PUT ON BY THE MIRAMAR NATIONAL CEMETERY SUPPORT FOUNDATION
THE ORGANIZATION PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR MEMORIAL PROJECTS AND EVENTS AT THE CEMETERY
THE NATIONAL CEMETERY PLANS TO REMAIN OPEN ON VETERANS DAY FROM SUNRISE UNTIL SUNSET
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THE SAN DIEGO PADRES HIRED A NEW MANAGER WITH PRIOR TIES TO THE BALL CLUB
FORMER PADRES PITCHER CRAIG STAMMEN (STAM-MIN) WILL FILL THE ROLE
IT WAS ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY (THURSDAY) THAT HE SIGNED A THREE YEAR CONTRACT TO MANAGE HIS FORMER TEAM
CRAIG WAS AN MLB PITCHER FOR 13 SEASONS - HIS LAST SIX BEING WITH THE PADRES
THE UPCOMING 2026 SEASON WILL BE HIS THIRD TIME IN A COACHING OR STAFF ROLE FOR THE TEAM
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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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SAN DIEGANS HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED FEDERAL FOOD ASSISTANCE THIS MONTH, AS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON.
REPORTER KATIE HYSON VISITED ONE OF THE 400-THOUSAND LOCALS FIGURING OUT HOW TO MAKE IT THROUGH NOVEMBER.
SNAPCUT 1 trt 1:18 SOQ (kh/mb)
Normally, Maria Hernandez gets one hundred and thirty dollars a month in grocery assistance. Now, she’s expecting about sixty – if anything.
SOT :03 I got worried, you know, like, how are we going to eat?
She started swapping fresh food for cans and boxes.
SOT :07 Spaghettis, stuff that you know is stuff that's not really that good for you, but, you know, it's something that's going to fill your stomach.
She has help. A nearby church. A Poway food bank, where she says the line has suddenly stretched to the hundreds. Family, in a pinch.
She worries about people who don’t have all that support.
SOT :10 I feel bad for the other people, like the other mothers that are out there with a lot of children that aren't going to be able to feed their kids.
Thanksgiving is weeks away.
SOT :03 Contemplating like I going to be able to make my dish this year?
Her signature potato casserole. Frozen hashbrowns, cream of chicken soup, sour cream and crackers. But this year, she’s not sure if she can afford the ingredients.
SOT :12 I'm hoping and praying the government opens up next month because if next month comes around – what else are they going to get rid? If it’s CalFresh, what's next? Section 8? People getting their disability? People getting welfare?
A County spokesperson says they’re waiting on word from the state.
Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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FOOD ASSISTANCE OR SNAP IS CALLED CALFRESH HERE IN CALIFORNIA
AND NEARLY 100 THOUSAND OF THOSE IMPACTED BY THE DELAYS IN CALFRESH BENEFITS IN THE COUNTY ARE SENIORS
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THAT MEANS MANY OLDER ADULTS MAY BE SKIPPING MEALS…AND PUTTING THEIR HEALTH AT RISK.
OLDERSNAP 1 --- TRT 1:13 SOQ
Lunch time at Serving Seniors in downtown San Diego is busier than usual. Staff say more people have been showing up since CalFresh benefits were delayed.
MARY EASTWOOD
It helps us a lot.
Mary Eastwood is feeling the impact. She’s 86 and lives on a fixed income. She depends on CalFresh to buy food.
MARY EASTWOOD
Without it, every penny counts.
She has high blood pressure and takes heart medication. Without reliable access to food, she’s cutting back on meals.
DR. IAN NEEL
Food is as important, if not more so, than the pills that we prescribe.
Dr. Ian Neel is a geriatrician at UC San Diego Health. He says skipping meals can make chronic conditions worse.
DR. IAN NEEL
Diabetes, heart disease, increased risk of gingivitis.
Neel says food also affects how some medication works.
DR. IAN NEEL
There are some medications that we need to take with food, or in an appropriate timing with food, and if we don't have access to that food, it could lead to serious harm.
Back at Serving Seniors, Eastwood worries how much longer she can stretch her budget.
MARY EASTWOOD
We’re seniors. We don’t have much left. Hey, help us.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS
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SKYROCKETING RENTS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE TAKEN A HEAVY TOLL ON LOW INCOME TENANTS. THEY'VE ALSO TAKEN A TOLL ON GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS THAT SUBSIDIZE RENT.
HOUSING VOUCHERS REPRESENT THE NATION'S LARGEST AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAM.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS SAN DIEGO'S VOUCHER PROGRAM IS LOSING MONEY FAST… AND DIFFICULT CHOICES LIE AHEAD.
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SECTION8 4:31 soq
AB: Simone Le Blanc was once solidly in the middle class. She had a good union job at AT&T for almost 20 years. But the job required a lot of repetitive motions with her hands.
CARO2574.MOV 19;15;18;22
SIMONE LE BLANC
DISABLED SENIOR
SLB: My hands, when I was at work, they just started swelling really, really bad. And no matter what I did, ice, I went to acupuncture, they were sending me to all these places. Nothing worked. So come to find out it was a condition called De Quervains.
AB: Le Blanc still has scars from the five surgeries that tried to fix the pain she was feeling. The surgeries ended up causing nerve damage. In 2008, Le Blanc couldn't work anymore and became disabled. She lost her house the following year. Then in 2012, Le Blanc's husband died suddenly. She knew she needed help.
CARO2574.MOV 19;19;05;12
SLB: I'm a widow with two kids. I have a disability. My son has a disability. What is the waiting time for the Section 8? And that was in 2013.
AB: Section 8 housing vouchers, also called housing choice vouchers, are the largest housing assistance program in the United States. Recipients get to choose where they live and pay around 30% of their income on rent. The voucher covers the difference between that amount and what the government determines is fair market rent. Vouchers are extremely effective at preventing and ending homelessness. But the program isn't well funded. When Le Blanc first got on a voucher waitlist, she was told the average wait time was around seven years. Thirteen years later, she's still waiting.
CARO2574.MOV 19;19;33;28
SLB: Every year, I call Section 8. I call them and say, hey, do you guys prioritize people who are on disability, low income, people who have kids are disabled? 'Oh, no, we do. But you're on the list.' I was like, okay, so pretty much the same stuff they were telling everybody else. But I thought I was going to be moved up a little bit.
steve russell.mp4 00:00:31:21
SR: I would speak really to the last 10 years that I've been deeply involved in this sector, and this is the worst it's been.
AB: Stephen Russell is executive director of the San Diego Housing Federation, a nonprofit that represents affordable housing developers. He says the rapid inflation in the housing market since 2020 has meant housing vouchers are reaching fewer and fewer people.
steve russell.mp4 00:00:54:22
SR: The need has grown, rents have grown, and the government subsidy that provides this Section 8 voucher has not grown. And so we are seeing just a deepening problem, a deepening crisis, in housing in general and Section 8 in particular.
AB: The Biden administration sought to make housing vouchers an entitlement program, similar to Medicare, where everyone who qualifies receives the benefit. But it never had the votes in Congress to overcome Republican opposition. Now, funding cuts from the Trump administration have pushed the San Diego Housing Commission, which distributes vouchers for the city of San Diego, into a deepening deficit. To balance its voucher budget, the agency can either kick 1,700 households off the program… or it can dial back its subsidies and require voucher recipients to pay more of their income towards rent. The agency prefers the latter, which Russell agrees is the least bad option.
steve russell.mp4 00:05:09:09
SR: To throw some people out of their homes so that others can stay is not a morally acceptable approach. This is painful. But I do believe that given the circumstances, the cards we've been dealt as a region, that this is going to be the most practical and ethical way to see that we can continue to support these families and keep folks from becoming homeless.
CARO2575.MOV 19;29;59;07
SLB: "I've been told, 'Oh, you can go to the food bank.' I'm not at that point where I need a food bank, I leave that for other people who need it."
AB: Simone Le Blanc wears a pink t-shirt that says "hope" on it. But with Republicans controlling the White House and Congress, she's not feeling very hopeful. She remembers reading a story about a woman in Chicago who was on a housing voucher waitlist for 29 years.
CARO2576.MOV 19;39;57;25
SLB: "So I look at that, I'm like, Okay, well, 29 years from now, who knows? I might not even be here. But you just wait. What else can you do? I'm not going to let it destroy my life. I'm not going to let it stop me from continuing to do what I need to do."
AB: The Housing Commission board is scheduled to vote on a plan to balance its voucher program budget on December 11. If that plan is approved, voucher holders in the city of San Diego will have to start paying more towards their rent roughly one year from now. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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THE COLOMBIAN NAVY TALL SHIP A-R-C GLORIA SAILED INTO SAN DIEGO YESTERDAY (THURSDAY) FOR THE WEEKEND AND IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER SAYS THE SHIP IS PART AMBASSADOR, PART CLASSROOM.
GLORIA 1 (AD) 1:00 SOQ
THRONGS OF COLOMBIAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES CHEER AS THE GLORIA ARRIVES AT THE BROADWAY PIER.
CADETS MAN THE SAILING SHIP’S RIGGING HIGH ABOVE ON TWO OF ITS 100-FOOT MASTS.
COLOMBIAN NAVY MIDSHIPMAN SANTIAGO VARGAS SAYS MEMBERS OF THE 154-PERSON CREW COMMUNICATE BY WHISTLING USING THE BOSUN’S PIPES THEY EACH WEAR AROUND THEIR NECKS.
SV: IT CAN BE HEARD FROM ONE SIDE OF THE SHIP TO THE OTHER, FROM THE BOAT TO THE STERN, NO MATTER WHERE.
THE SHIP IS WHERE CADETS LEARN BASIC SEAMANSHIP AND NAVIGATION. IT ALSO SERVES AS AN AMBASSADOR FOR COLOMBIA.
*NATS MUSIC*
MUSIC PLAYS FROM A SHIP LOUDSPEAKER AND MANY PEOPLE ON THE PIER DANCE.
VARGAS SAYS THE WARM WELCOME IS SOMETHING COLOMBIANS DO WELL.
SV: SO WE CALL IT THE, THE COUNTRY OF A THOUSAND RHYTHMS. SO WE HAVE A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS TO DANCE, AND WE DANCE FOR EVERYTHING. ANY SPECIAL OCCASION IS AN EXCUSE FOR YOU TO GET TO DANCE.
THE GLORIA IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT NO COST THROUGH SUNDAY.
ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS
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IF VISITING THE A-R-C GLORIA ISN’T YOUR THING. WE HAVE SOME OTHER WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS FOR YOU AND YOURS
FOR THE KIDDOS , ONCE A MONTH YOU CAN JOIN KPBS KIDS AND THE SAN DIEGO CHILDREN’S DISCOVERY MUSEUM FOR A COSTUME CHARACTER MEET-AND-GREET AND HANDS-ON WORKSHOP
TODAY’S EVENT STARTS AT 10 AM AND GOES UNTIL NOON
IT FEATURES MOLLY OF DENALI!
YOU CAN GRAB TICKETS ON KPBS DOT ORG SLASH EVENTS
IF YOU ARE SOMEONE LOOKING TO CENTER YOURSELF AND HAVE A NICE, CALM AND PEACEFUL SATURDAY YOU CAN CHECK OUT WINTER WELLNESS SOUND HEALING
THAT’S BEING PUT ON BY MY SOUND BATH COLLECTIVE AT THE SAN DIEGO BOTANIC GARDEN IN ENCINITAS
YOU CAN VISIT S-D-B-G DOT ORG SLASH PROGRAMS FOR MORE INFO
SUNDAY … IS FOR SOCCER FANS !
GAME 3 WILL DECIDE IF SAN DIEGO FC MOVES FORWARD IN THE PLAYOFFS
THEY’RE LL TIED UP AT 1-1 AGAINST THE PORTLAND TIMBERS
THE MATCH STARTS AT 6 PM AT SNAPDRAGON STADIUM
THE WINNER WILL ADVANCE TO THE WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Coming up.... We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth. This podcast is hosted and produced by me, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
