Library Pride display back after protest
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, July 6th.
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Community members stand up against anti LGBTQ plus protest.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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Reporters this week were given a tour of a San Diego County jail, that's partially reopening this week after renovations.
Sheriff Kelly Martinez says the extra cells should free up space at other jails in desperate need of maintenance.
Michael Serna, whose daughter Elisa died in custody in 20-19, said improving conditions at jails is important — but that it won’t solve everything.
“They want to take the focus off the blame that is theirs also to bear. … two people died last week in custody. it's still going on, even after all this reform. when will it end?”
The two deaths last week brings the total number of inmate deaths since the beginning of the year, to 8.
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The San Diego County Fair has officially wrapped up for the year, and organizers say this year was a success.
The fair ran for 22 days and during that time, nearly one-million people went along with the theme of the fair and chose to “Get Out There” this year.
About 25 thousand more people attended the fair this year, compared to last year.
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It’s been feeling like summer these past few days, but forecasters say a slow cooling trend is in store for the rest of the work week.
Temps are expected to be in the low 70s today and tomorrow.
It’s also expected to be a bit windy.
The National Weather Service says gusts could reach up to 20 miles per hour today.
Temps are expected to start warming up again over the weekend and into next week.
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The pride display at the Rancho Peñasquitos library is back following an anti-L-G-B-T-Q-plus protest.
“This is the first time I've ever had someone, like, completely decimate a display and basically email and you know, basically email and say, I'm not returning your book. So that was new for me.”
More on that coming up, after the break.
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The pride display at the Rancho Peñasquitos library branch is filled with books again.
Last week, two anti-L-G-B-T-Q-plus protestors checked out everything on the shelf.
One emailed saying she wouldn’t return the books until the library got rid of what she called quote “inappropriate content” for children.
Reporter Katie Hyson talked to San Diego's public library director, Misty Jones, about the incident and the recent challenges to book access.
We've had people that have complained about one book or things like that. We've had drag queen story times and we've had people call or email saying they don't agree with it. But this is the first time I've ever had someone like completely decimate a display and basically email and say, I'm not returning your book. So that was new for me. I heard there were fundraising efforts to replace the books. How are those going? I was actually at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library on Monday, and you should see the stack of Amazon boxes that they have of people who are purchasing the books to replace them. Our library foundation is having an ongoing fundraising effort. They are really getting inundated. We've had people come into the library that have never been to the library before, but they're coming in to donate a book and getting a library card while they're there. It's really been an amazing response. You mentioned to the Union Tribune that it's gotten progressively worse in the last five years. Can you tell me about that? We've always had inclusive books. We've always had something that is probably offensive. I always say the library, a good library has something that offends everyone, right? There's always something. But the last five years is when we're really starting to get the emails, the calls of people not agreeing, and it hasn't just been, I don't agree with that. Why are you doing that? It's been really hateful language, and I think that's what's changed. We've always had challenges, but we've never had kind of the personal attacks against our librarians. There have been movements to ban books in school libraries. Many of those have been successful. I'm wondering if that's impacted the public library system at all. It has. We're having a lot of people reaching out to us to get those materials that they can't get in schools any longer. And that's across the nation.. And really, you've probably seen which is just like it's a horror movie to me, to see the videos of just piles and piles of books being taken out to recycle bins and dumpsters, and it breaks my heart. It's devastating. But we are looking at what can we do? We know we're in a privileged space here in San Diego that we don't see the same kind of challenges. And so we're looking at how can we also be a support nationally? Are there any concrete ideas you're excited about? Yeah, so we're looking brooklyn Public Libraries started really a movement called Unbanned Books. And so they boosted their ebook collection to be able to offer it to other states, to kids, particularly the young adult children, and young adult collection to be able to offer it to kids in other states. And Seattle Public Library just joined that movement. So we've been looking at that. I truly do believe that people have they have the right to believe the way that they want. The problem is that you can't push your beliefs onto other people that may not believe the same way that you do. And that's where the issue comes. And so by checking out all of the books because she didn't agree with them, she's denied an entire community from access to those books. And it may be a book that somebody needs that day. Somebody needs to see that the book trans. Like me, there is a teenager that is struggling that that book could make a difference for. And by removing that book, you have taken potentially that lifeline away from that person.
TAG: That was San Diego Public Library director, Misty Jones, speaking with KPBS reporter Katie Hyson.
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Empowering people who have experienced mental health challenges to use their story to impact policy.. that’s the goal behind a program launched this year by a local non-profit.
Health reporter Matt Hoffman has more.
When Joshua Roberts was 32 years old his life changed following a bipolar disorder diagnosis. He says what worked best for him– Were spiritual models that re-framed the way I saw my bi-polar and the way that i saw myself and the way i saw reality.. And that’s actually made my life better now than it ever was before He recently graduated from a National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI San Diego program that’s training people to use their mental health stories to impact policy.. It’s called the Smarts For Advocacy.. Roberts says he’ll advocate to expand the spiritual treatments and peer-support services that have helped him. The training helped him understand how the system works. How the layout of the land works like how the legislation works and who the government is because i always thought they were kind of these abstract, out there people -- then i realized that they are just real people and that we can actually contact them and make these changes The next Smarts of Advocacy trainings are happening virtually later this month and anyone can sign up. MH KPBS News.
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The cost and availability of childcare often prevents both parents from taking on full time jobs… and for parents in law enforcement, odd working hours only raise those barriers.
Reporter Tania Thorne takes a look at how agencies are trying to help their staff with childcare.
The difficult balance between career and family is something San Diego Sheriff deputy, Daniel Psomas knows all too well. He and his wife,Emily have a 17 month old son and a baby girl on the way. “The hours I work, they’re nights, weekends, holidays, I work OT so when you’re working jails you're working nights, days, 12 hour days.” This reality played a key role in the couple deciding that Emily, would leave her job to be a stay-at-home mom. San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez says many workers in law enforcement face similar predicaments. When they’re working a bunch of different hours and shift work and weekends and holidays and getting called out, so to have reliable good childcare is really important to all of our staff and our deputies. I was a single parent coming up in this organization so I was lucky enough to have my parents nearby that could watch my son,but that’s not the case for everyone. The Sheriff’s Department is trying to help parents within its ranks through a partnership with Tootris – a San Diego based company that connects parents with vetted child care providers. Parents can search the Tootris database by location and by hours needed, including 24 hour shifts. The benefit of having accessibility to this application and all these childcare providers is you can compare and you’ll have more opportunity to know whats available, whats out there, what the cost is. So it really provides the user the opportunity to shop for the best provider for them. But the Sheriff’s Department is only paying for the Tootris membership, not the childcare. The San Diego Police Department is going a step further by constructing a day care center for the children of police officers. This comes after a survey recently conducted by the police union that showed 21% of police officers were thinking about leaving the department over child care issues. And the survey showed 59% had to leave or miss work because of child care problems. San Diego Councilmember Raul Campillo hopes these initiatives will also open the doors to more women in law enforcement. we're seeing a lot of need from city employees like police officers dispatchers who also have to work through the night, and sheriff's department deputy sheriff's, who have to take care of their kids in the evenings and nights when they're on the third shift throughout the night time. And so the fact that we're seeing people step up from our State legislature to our Federal Government to help fund that benefit. Just means that we're gonna continue to recruit and retain really good peace officers which we are desperately in need of right now, The new daycare center for children of SDPD officers and staff is expected to open by the end of the year. we're really just excited that employers are starting to get into this conversation and start to realize the critical critical support that child care plays in our keeping our workforce engaged? Kim McDougal is the senior vice president of social services for the YMCA of San Diego County. She says police agencies are not alone in making investments into the childcare needs of their employees. But the child care industry is still suffering. there continues to be this lack of available care. and a lack of the kind of care that families are looking for, that that is a barrier to a really high functioning child care system. Members of the Child Care Providers United union have been marching in Sacramento for legislation that supports better pay and benefits for care workers. McDougal says this could be a critical step in strengthening the childcare industry and providing help families are desperately looking for. Like the Psomas family. With the Sheriff’s department help in finding childcare, Psoma’s wife, Emily hopes to re-enter the workforce. My wife has ambitions to be a nurse. And one of the big things that comes with this childcare is if she needs to go back to school, she’s able to do that. TT KPBS News.
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Coming up.... Operators of a local theater are trying to replace dozens of puppets, and make repairs after a break in. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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Operators of the historic Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre in Balboa Park are raising money to replace dozens of puppets, and make repairs after a break in..
Reporter M.G. Perez has more details.
Surveillance video caught the same suspect breaking in to the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre…first in the early morning hours of June 24th and then again in the middle of the day on June 26th when the theater was closed. The theater’s management says he stole 40-puppets and caused almost 10-thousand dollars in damage and losses. Andrea Zinko is president of San Diego’s Balboa Park Puppet Guild …which operates the theater for the city and produces shows with several volunteer puppeteers. “That impacts the ability for them to do the shows, it impacts the theater’s ability to produce those shows and have guests come in and enjoy those shows.” Puppet shows will continue this weekend with a scaled down production. The theater is raising donations to replace what was lost. Information on how to help is on the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre’s FACEBOOK page. MGP KPBS News.
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Now playing at The Old Globe Theatre is “Passengers,” from the Montreal-based collective “The 7 Fingers.”
The innovative show uses acrobatics, theatre, music and dance to reveal the dreams and emotions of passengers traveling on a train.
Arts reporter Beth Accomando checked out a rehearsal at the San Diego Circus Center.
Traveling on trains is something circus performers are used to says Mandi Orozco, who is part of The 7 Fingers physical theatre troupe. But for the show Passengers, trains and travel provide a metaphor for how life can unfold. And circus provides the means of expressing that. MANDI OROZCO You feel every emotion in an elevated way through circus, whether that's the physicality of trust, for example, or the idea of losing someone. Circus takes a very physical way to express emotions we all know, but it takes everything up a little bit of a level. Orozo appears in an act called Imperfect Strangers that begins with the discomfort of sitting next to a total stranger but then shows how that physical proximity can lead to something else. The act involves aerial acrobatics and trapeze to dazzle the audience. MANDI OROZCO …But I think one of the things that Seven Fingers specifically as a company is very good at is connecting not only the wow factor in engaging people on an acrobatic level, but also reaching out and grabbing people emotionally… and that's really a powerful combination. Passengers continues at the Globe mainstage through July 30th. Beth Accomando, 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 Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
