Latest round of tariffs imposed by Trump administration now faces legal challenge
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, MARCH SIXTH>>>> [CALIFORNIA HAS JOINED A LAWSUIT TO STOP THE LATEST ROUND OF TARRIFS]
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
A-D-U'S HAVE GOTTEN THE O-K TO MOVE FORWARD
THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON WEDNESDAY UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED AN ORDINANCE ALLOWING FOR THE SEPARATE SALE OF ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS
A-D-U'S OR GRANNY FLATS ARE ADDITIONAL HOUSING UNITS BUILT ON THE SAME LOT AS THE OWNER'S MAIN RESIDENCE
THE NEW ORDINANCE ALIGNS COUNTY POLICY WITH STATE LAW
IT GOES INTO EFFECT IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS
THE COUNTY’S LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENT GROUP SAYS THAT IN 120 DAYS
COUNTY STAFF WILL PRESENT OPTIONS ON WAYS TO GIVE CURRENT A-D-U TENANTS THE 1ST CHANCE AT PURCHASING THE UNIT
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THE GIRL SCOUTS OF SAN DIEGO ARE HEADING TO COURT
THEY ARE SUING THE FORMER COMPANY THAT MADE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES FOR THE ORGANIZATION
THEY ALLEGE THE COMPANY WENT AGAINST ITS AGREEMENT AND ABRUPTLY TERMINATED THE CONTRACT WITH THE GIRL SCOUTS
GIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO SAYS THIS CAUSED A SUBSTANTIAL REVENUE LOSS, ADDING THAT THE EMERGENCY TRANSITION TO FIND A NEW BAKER CAUSED A DECLINE IN SALES AND REVENUE
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COASTAL RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN SAN DIEGO AND OCEANSIDE IS
SUSPENDED THIS WEEKEND...
THE NORTH COUNTY TRANSIT DISTRICT SAYS THIS IS ONCE AGAIN SO THAT ROUTINE RAILROAD MAINTENANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE WORK CAN BE COMPLETED
REGULAR SERVICE WILL RESUME AGAIN, ON MONDAY
THE N-C-T-D SAYS THAT THESE WEEKEND CLOSURES HAPPEN PERIODICALLY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO GIVE CREWS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK SAFELY ON AND ALONG THE RAIL LINE
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 LATEST ROUND OF TARIFFS IMPOSED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD ARE NOW FACING A LEGAL CHALLENGE.
REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS CALIFORNIA IS PART OF A 24-STATE COALITION THAT’S SUING TO STOP THEM.
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TARIFFS 1 1:03 SOQ
“At its core, this lawsuit is about protecting every day Americans from the harmful effects of unlawful tariffs.”
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA THURSDAY MORNING ON A ZOOM NEWS CONFERENCE WITH HIS FELLOW AGs IN ARIZONA, OREGON AND NEW YORK… ANNOUNCING A NEW LAWSUIT AGAINST THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S LATEST ROUND OF TARIFFS. THE LAWSUIT SAYS THE TARIFFS ARE ILLEGAL… AND ECONOMICALLY RECKLESS.
((NATS/RCP))
AT R-C-P BLOCK AND BRICK IN LEMON GROVE, THE FORKLIFTS WERE BUSY MOVING AROUND MATERIAL WHILE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER KATHY OLSEN TOLD US HOW THE THE TARIFFS MAKE DOING BUSINESS MORE DIFFICULT.
“For the last year, we've been on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis, so it's hard to make business decisions when there's so much uncertainty.”
THE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE LATEST ROUND OF TARIFFS IS NOW WITH THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. THEY’LL EXPIRE IN LATE JULY IF CONGRESS DOESN’T VOTE TO EXTEND THEM. JC, KPBS NEWS.
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THERE’S A NEW RESOURCE IN THE NORTH COUNTY FOR YOUNG WOMEN EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS OR HOUSING INSECURITY.
CASA DE AMPARO IS OPENING A NEW TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM IN SAN MARCOS.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN GOT A LOOK INSIDE.
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CASAAMPARO 1(an) trt: 0:52 SOQ
NATS
The apartments are located at Casa De Amparo’s main campus-
NATPOP “This is the common area. This going to be a shared space.”
The U-S Department of Health and Human Services is funding the transitional living program with a three-year grant.
The program includes fully furnished apartments to house up to 7 young women … with each having their own bedroom.
Casa de Amparo program manager Vanessa Villarreal says that’s a fundamental component of the program.
“Safe housing and a structured living environment. That is at the forefront of what we're doing here.
“When you said safe housing, what do you mean by that?”
So some women, some of these young women might be fleeing from domestic violence situations. Right. So, a place to stay, and then they can focus on all their other needs.”
Participants can stay in the program for up to 18 months … or 21 months in extenuating circumstances. The first residents are expected to move in next week. AN, KPBS News.
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MORE TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOMS ARE OPENING IN THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NEXT YEAR.
EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SHARES WHAT PARENTS MIGHT CONSIDER WHEN PICKING BETWEEN T-K AND PRESCHOOL.
TKENROLL1 1:04 SOQ
In San Diego Unified, four-year-olds can either go to transitional kindergarten or preschool.
Santos Gonzalez directs the district’s early childhood education programs.
GONZALEZ
Parents are very lucky right now. The state has made it so that they have multiple options available to them.
One factor to consider is the schedule.
Most of the district’s preschool programs are half-day. TK is a full day.
GONZALEZ
We find that this is a really great program for parents that need full day coverage, right?
Another is location. TK is offered at nearly every elementary school in the district. Preschool is only at certain campuses, and space is limited.
Another consideration is your child’s readiness for full-time school. If kids are eager to make new friends, Gonzalez says, it could be the right time for TK.
GONZALEZ
If your child is excited about the prospect of entering school, that's a surefire sign that they're ready.
TK enrollment is now open online and continues until the start of the school year. If parents need help with the online forms, they can visit their school’s office. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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ACROSS THE COUNTY, PEOPLE ARE GATHERING TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING MANY AMERICANS STILL AVOID…DEATH.
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO VISITED A DEATH CAFE AND SAYS INTEREST IN THESE CONVERSATIONS IS GROWING.
–A WARNING, THIS STORY DISCUSSES INTIMATE DETAILS OF DEATH.
DEATHCAFE (hd) trt: 4:45 SOQ
NAT SOUND – flute playing
On a recent Saturday morning at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, a group of strangers gathered.
SOT: Cafe chatter
And began sharing stories many people rarely share out loud.
SOT: The first experience I ever had was when a sibling of mine, a brother, died at 6 months old. And I was about, I don't know, 8 or 9 or 10.
Among them is 90-year-old John Gerardi.
The topic of conversation is…death.
JOHN Gerardi:I saw an ad in the Encinitas paper about the Death Cafe.
Death Cafes started in Switzerland in 2004 and have spread worldwide.
Selena Jong organizes one every month.
SELENA JONG:I started Death Cafe because I also needed a place to have community to talk about any topic related to death and dying, and there aren't spaces like that available to the community.
In San Diego County, there are a handful of Death Cafes. Some in person, others online.
After years marked by pandemic loss, Jong says more people are willing to talk about the end of life. She started with 30 participants.
SELENA JONG
This year, particularly, all of a sudden we've had a steady stream of over 40. So 40 to 50 people.
For some, it’s about connection.
SOT: So when I told my son I'm going to death cafe, he’s like, what is that? Are you dying? I says no. I'm there to meet people and talk to people, right?
For Gerardi, it’s become a routine. He’s attended ten months in a row.
JOHN GERARDI
Just to meet with people and get their perspective of about dying. And I learned a lot.
At each table, there’s no expert. No advice. Just stories.
SOT: In that time I’ve lost a young husband, both my brothers, my parents…
The conversations are heavy.
SOT: I remember when I first got the diagnosis, that I was taking a shower and I was just screaming.
People wrestling with their own mortality.
SOT: I chose that I needed to, in order to keep my daughter’s legacy going on to help people.
Parents who lost children. Spouses grieving long marriages.
And yet, something unexpected happens.
NAT SOUND: laughter
JOHN GERARDIDid you notice a lot of people laughing? I even tell jokes to my table.
At 90, Gerardi is upbeat and still active. Quick to smile and eager to talk.
He was married nearly 65 years.
JOHN GERARDI
I miss her. She was a beautiful lady.
He spent the last six caring for his wife through a long decline. That experience shaped how he hopes his own life will end.
JOHN GERARDI:I'm not afraid of it. You know, like I said, I keep busy. My hobbies my savior.
In his workshop, he crafts wooden trivets.
SOT: Like this one here, took me two weeks.
Keeping busy, he says, helps quiet the isolation he sometimes feels. It’s a perspective he often shares at the cafe.
For others, Jong says the conversations are less about coping and more about planning.
SELENA JONGA lot of people find that they don't have their affairs in order. And the light bulb goes off like, oh, I need to I need to talk to my family, talk to my loved ones about what my wishes are. I need to get my advanced directive done.
Gerardi is learning how many choices exist at the end of life.
JOHN GERARDIThey had water cremation which I didn’t know… And they have green cremation where people want their ashes in a compost, you know.
Jong believes broader culture changes are making death less taboo.
SELENA JONG
Showing more death positive images and stories and media is also starting to shift. And that's I think it's all going in the right direction.
But she says access still matters.
SELENA JONG I definitely think these conversations need to be more in communities of color. I think we can do a better job of making this more accessible to more lower income communities.
Back at the center, the tables are buzzing with conversations about fear, grief, and planning. And what people hope for at the end of life
SOT: I’ve already made up my mind.
For Gerardi, it’s simple. He’ll keep busy in his workshop.
JOHN GERARDI
If it comes to a point where I can't do what I'm doing and I'm not able to take care of myself, I'll just go peacefully, too.
Until then… he’ll keep showing up at the cafe each month.
JOHN GERARDI
I wish it was every Saturday.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
ANCHOR TAG: IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS HELP, CONTACT THE 988 SUICIDE & CRISIS LIFELINE BY CALLING OR TEXTING 9-8-8.
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AFTER YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION, THE SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK UNVEILED ITS ELEPHANT HERD’S NEW HOME THIS WEEK (Thursday).
ELEPHANT VALLEY GIVES THEM ROOM TO ROAM. AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS YOU CAN GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE THEIR EYELASHES.
ELEPHANT 1 trt: 1:02 soq
As you walk into the new Elephant Valley, you stop hearing the rest of the Safari Park.
*Nat pop*
A long, meandering pathway welcomes you in. It’s marked all over with massive, circular footprints … as if the elephants are guiding you to them.
ELEPHANTS 1 00:06
“It's a complete story of wildlife and nature and people and how we coexist together.”
Patrick McTigue (muck-tie-g) is with the Safari Park. He says these features were intentional.
You can walk alongside the elephants in some areas. You can see them passing below a bridge and at eyelevel from open-air restaurants.
ELEPHANTS 1 00:06
“You can see Mkhaya, you can see her eyelashes. You can see Zuli’s wrinkles on his skin.”
More importantly, officials say, Elephant Valley was designed with a herd-first approach.
There’s expanded space to roam, bathe and sleep. And feeders release food at random. It creates unpredictability, like in the wild.
There’s no extra charge to enter the Elephant Valley. That’s included in your general admission ticket. Tammy Murga, KPBS News.
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WILL EISNER WEEK CELEBRATES GRAPHIC NOVELS, SEQUENTIAL ART, FREE SPEECH, AND THE LEGACY OF COMICS PIONEER WILL EISNER.
ON SATURDAY, COMIC-CON MUSEUM WILL HOST A DAY OF PANELS TO CLOSE THE WEEK’S EVENTS.
ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO HAS THIS PREVIEW.
EISNERWEEK (ba) 1:15 SOQ
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Will Eisner’s career spans decades, from helping define the comics industry in the 1930s to reinventing the medium in the 1970s with his first graphic novel, A Contract With God. Each year Comic-Con honors his legacy with the Eisner Awards. This Saturday, the Comic-Con Museum hosts a series of Will Eisner Week panels that highlight his impact on comics by focusing on what’s happening in the industry today.
Eisner’s impressive work in graphic memoirs has inspired the panel “Graphic Memoirs by Women,” moderated by Jackie Estrada and featuring Mary Fleener and Mimi Pond.
MIMI POND …I love graphic biography and autobiography. I find them particularly affecting and personal.
Pond will be signing copies of her graphic memoirs, Over Easy and The Customer is Always Wrong.
MIMI POND… Whether they admit it or not, I think everyone likes comics. It's just so much more more engaging and inviting to look at pictures than to have to read a bunch of words on a page. You're looking at pictures. It's primal.
Comic-Con Museum and Eisner Week showcase the appeal and the diversity of comics today, and how Will Eisner helped encourage both.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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ALRIGHT SDNN LISTENERS, WE HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKEND EVENTS THAT YOU AND YOURS CAN TAKE PART IN
SAN DIEGO’S FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IS ON SATURDAY AT PETCO PARK
IT’S FREE AND STARTS AT 10 A-M
THE FESTIVAL WILL FEATURE MORE THAN 100 HANDS ON ACTIVITIES, TALKS AND ENTERTAINMENT
CHECK OUT , LOVE STEM S-D DOT ORG FOR MORE INFO
IT’S SAN DIEGO THEATRE MONTH !
ALL OF MARCH, DOZENS OF PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
ARE OFFERING DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR THEATER, COMEDY, MUSIC AND DANCE PERFORMANCES
TICKETS START AT FIFTEEN DOLLARS
FOR A LIST OF PRODUCTIONS, VISIT SAN DIEGO THEATRE MONTH DOT COM
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, ON SUNDAY STONE BREWING IS HOSTING AN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY BRUNCH AND MAKERS MARKET
IT’S A 21 PLUS EVENT FEATURING A WOMEN-OWNED MARKETPLACE AND FOOD AND BEVERAGE PAIRINGS
THAT TAKES PLACE AT STONE’S LIBERTY STATION LOCATION
WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS WEEKEND, ENJOY!
That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth and 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.