Kaiser Permanente health care workers go on strike
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson…it’s TUESDAY, JANUARY 27TH>>>> Kaiser health workers strike over pay and staffing levels More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
ALL COUNTY AND U-S FLAGS ARE BEING FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF
IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY UNTIL WEDNESDAY
COUNTY BOARD CHAIR TERRA-LAWSON REMER SAYS THIS IS IN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE LIVES LOST IN MINNESOTA AT THE
HANDS OF ICE
LAWSON-REMER FIRST ORDERED TO HAVE THE FLAGS LOWERED ON
SUNDAY DESCRIBING THE DEATH'S OF BOTH RENEE GOOD AND ALEX
PRETTI IN MINNESOTA AS "TRAGIC"
FLAGS WILL REMAIN AT HALF-STAFF UNTIL WEDNESDAY’S BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS MEETING
IN A STATEMENT TERRA LAWSON-REMER SAID DEADLY FEDERAL
ENFORCEMENT COMBINED WITH IMPEDED OVERSIGHT IS A
CONSTITUTIONAL BREAKDOWN THAT COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY CANNOT IGNORE
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YOUR SAN DIEGO PADRES WILL BE SPORTING A NEW '35' NUMBER
PATCH ON THEIR JERSEYS THIS UPCOMING SEASON
IT HONORS THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF FORMER CY
YOUNG WINNER AND TWO-TIME ALL-STAR, RANDY JONES
JONES PASSED AWAY IN NOVEMBER FOLLOWING AN ALMOST TEN YEAR BATTLE WITH THROAT CANCER
THIS PAST SATURDAY, THE BALL CLUB HELD A CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR HIM AT PETCO PARK…
THAT’S ALSO WHEN THEY UNVEILED THE NEW PATCH
JONES WAS A PITCHER FOR THE PADRES FOR EIGHT SEASONS
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CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER FOR TWO SAN DIEGO BASED CHEFS AND A COCKTAIL BAR
THEY EACH HAVE BEEN NAMED A 20-26 JAMES BEARD AWARD SEMI-FINALIST
EXECUTIVE CHEF TARA MONSOD {TAIR-RUH MON-SAHD] OF DOWNTOWN'S ANIMAE AND EXECUTIVE CHEF ERIC BOST OF 'LILO'[LIE-LOW] IN CARLSBAD ARE BOTH UP FOR THE 'BEST CHEF : CALIFORNIA' CATEGORY
ALSO MAKING IT TO THE SEMIFINALS IN THE OUTSTANDING BAR CATEGORY IS A SPEAKEASY ON CONVOY CALLED 'REALM OF THE FIFTY-TWO REALITIES"
FINALISTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED THIS SPRING
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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KAISER PERMANENTE HEALTH WORKERS WALKED OFF THE JOB THIS WEEK (MONDAY) IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THE STRIKE IS HAPPENING IN CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII.
KAISERSTRIKE 1 :59 soq
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Outside Kaiser Permanente’s San Diego Medical Center, union nurses and health care workers march on the picket line. They accuse the company of refusing to bargain in good faith.
Nate Poliakoff is an emergency room nurse.
NATE POLIAKOFF
Kaiser keeps making choices that end up dragging this process out.
Last week, Kaiser filed a federal lawsuit that could force unions to negotiate separately at each hospital instead of as one national group.
In a statement, Kaiser says their latest offer includes wage increases totalling more than 21 percent over 4 years.
Poliakoff says it's not just about pay.
NATE POLIAKOFF
The most important piece of this is safe staffing and being able to provide the best patient care.
Kaiser says hospitals and most clinics will remain open during the strike. But patients could see longer wait times.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
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AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR STAFF IS ON THE AGENDA THIS WEEK AT THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PLAN TO SELECT PROPOSALS FOR DEVELOPING DISTRICT FOUR PROPERTIES INTO HUNDREDS OF APARTMENTS.
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AFFORDABLE 1 (ja) :53 SOQ
The San Diego Unified Board of Education will select developers for properties in University Heights, Linda Vista, Logan Heights and Old Town.
The district’s goal is to build 1500 affordable apartments to house employees and their families.
Richard Barrera is the school Board president. He says the district is interested in proposals that would be affordable for employees at different income levels … from custodians to teachers.
“We don't want our employees to pay more than 30 percent of their family income on rent, but which of that group of employees will be prioritized, the different developers came with different ideas around that.”
Barrera says workforce housing is needed to recruit and retain employees in San Diego’s expensive housing market.
JA KPBS News.
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THE MARINE CORPS (CORE) IS TRYING TO PUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY INTO THE HANDS OF MORE MARINES. MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER TAKES US TO CAMP PENDLETON WHERE MEMBERS OF THE INFANTRY ARE LEARNING TO BE DRONE PILOTS.
PENDRONE 1 (ad) SS
(Nats of Marine pilot and navigator flying drone, drone buzzing)
Miller: it does feel like a video game.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas Miller is an anti-tank gunner with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.
Now he’s qualified to fly the Neros Archer drone.He wears goggles that give him a real-time camera feed from the drone. He guides the small quadrocopter to its target and just a few feet away, the screen turns to static.
(nats with boom of hit)
Miller: It is kind of strange, but it's also cool at the same time.
Instructors from the Quantico, Virginia-based Attack Drone Team were at Camp Pendleton last week teaching infantry troops to fly the Archer.Small drones like these have been used in combat by special operations forces but the Marines want to get more of these relatively inexpensive drones into the hands of the everyday infantry.
The Marines started the program a year ago in response to the success of small drones in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Reporting from Camp Pendleton, Andrew Dyer, KPBS News
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A NEW CALIFORNIA LAW IS PROMPTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ADJUST PARKING CITATION FEES FOR THOSE EXPERIENCING HARDSHIP. PENNER FELLOW EMMY BURRUS WENT TO A PARKING LOT BY MISSION BAY WHERE THE NEW LAW COULD HELP ONE LOCAL FAMILY.
PARKINGLAW (eb/qo) TRT (4:00) SOQ
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Astrid Alecio lives with her husband and two young daughters in a Mission Bay parking lot. Their RV is one of many vehicles in the lot that people here call home.
It’s an unconventional neighborhood. But it’s also a community. Kids here play together by the water, giggling over the loud hum of constant traffic from the freeway next door. Alecio’s little chihuahua watches over them from the RV’s passenger side window.
Along the side door of the camper, plastic lawn chairs help create a porch under a retractable awning.
Attached to the backside of the RV the family’s bicycles sit in a rack. Up top – large trash bags are piled on the roof – filled with cans they collect to make some money.
Alecio and her family ended up living here after their house flooded in the record-breaking storms of 2024. She used tax refunds to buy the mobile home. It’s now broken down and too expensive to fix.
“We're trying to do the best I can. The sun is not always shining on my side, but I have to make it happen for them because I don't have time for anything besides taking care of my kids.”
Living here means getting parking citations almost daily. At the beginning of January, Alecio said she had gotten about $1,000 worth of tickets in less than three weeks.
“We don't have enough money to go and get our registers up to date, our tags up to date. And with that and the tickets and feeding our kids, it's really hard. I wish they could do something about it”
California recently passed a law to help people avoid falling into this cycle of debt. It makes it clear to local jurisdictions they can reduce or waive parking fees in extreme cases of documented homelessness or financial hardship.
Some local authorities are changing their policies in response.
This does not include the City of San Diego, which a city spokesperson said only uses the Homeless Court Program to help unhoused people get reductions or waivers.
But elsewhere in San Diego county – change is happening. A La Mesa spokesperson said their city is now reducing and waiving fees for low-income individuals under the new law. And the county is also now allowing reductions, as are Oceanside and Lemon Grove.
VT Do is a Sheriff's Lieutenant with San Diego County. He says someone qualifies for a reduction if they are receiving public benefits or have a monthly income that is at or below 200% of the federal poverty line. The county decided not to offer total waivers at this time.
“We have to balance compassion, fairness with accountability. If we don't have a form of accountability with a flat waiver, then it's tough for us to beat that balanced approach.”
Some cities were already offering reductions or waivers for parking citations on a case-by-case basis. Others also rely on the Homeless Court Program. And several other cities in the county are still deciding what to do.
The Western Center on Law and Poverty was a co-sponsor of the law. Senior Attorney Rebecca Miller said people might not realize all the snowballing effects that come from not being able to pay a parking ticket.
“You can get your vehicle registration held so that you can't register your car. I'm sure everybody's seen the enormous late fees they get added on if you don't pay it on time, and then you can start getting additional parking tickets and traffic tickets for not having a registered car. And it can eventually lead to the loss of your vehicle.”
She hopes local jurisdictions can utilize all aspects of the legislation to better address each individual’s specific needs.
The law also lifts any time limits on when a person can request a payment plan after receiving a parking citation. Before, most jurisdictions had a 120 day window.
Back at the Mission Bay parking lot… Alecio doesn’t know how much expanding that window will help.
“That's great, but think about it. Yes, I can get a payment plan. I can say I can only pay $25 a month, right, but in the meantime I'm making these payments, but they come every single day. When am I going to finish paying those tickets?”
She’s received warnings that her vehicle could be towed. Now her youngest daughter stays up at night worrying the police will take her parents or her home.
Emmy Burrus, KPBS News
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JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS RESIDENTS SAY A SOLAR FARM PROJECT THAT’S CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION IS KICKING UP TOO MUCH DUST.
REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SAYS PEOPLE LIVING CLOSE TO THE PROJECT ARE FEARING FOR THEIR HEALTH.
JACUMBADUST 1 (1:07) SOQ
It’s become a serious health issue for Jacumba resident Stef Tonkin. She lives in the trailer park next to the solar project … and has COPD.
SOT Stef Tonkin/Jacumba resident
“I have been hospitalized several times recently because of having flare-ups with my COPD because of the amount of dust and dirt.”
The county requires steps to keep the dust at a minimum. Including pausing construction grading on especially windy days. Residents and business owners say the developer, BayWa r.e. Americas, has not always abided by this requirement.
Jeff Osborne owns the Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel. He led a community meeting on the issue earlier this month.
SOT Jeff Osborne
“Have you guys stopped a project grading because of the wind thus far? \\ Not that I’ve seen \\ Because, I have a weather station right here in town and since November 1st, there's been 16 days with gusts over 25 miles an hour.”
BayWa r.e. Americas emailed a statement to KPBS. It says the company checks the weather daily for wind conditions … and waters down the grading site multiple times a day.
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
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!
