Local nonprofit found fewer people living in the San Diego Riverbed than year before
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s MONDAY, APRIL 27TH
>>>> { WE’LL TELL YOU ABOUT THE CLEAN RIVER PROGRAM AND THE IMPACT ITS HAD ON THOSE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS]More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
THE PORT OF SAN DIEGO SIGNED A NEW AGREEMENT WITH THE DISNEY CRUISE LINE THROUGH 20-31
THE DEAL JUST ABOUT DOUBLES THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DISNEY CRUISES THAT WILL LEAVE FROM SAN DIEGO'S PORT EACH YEAR
IT ALSO GIVES DISNEY PRIORITY ACCESS TO THE PORTS’ NORTH AND SOUTH DOCKS LOCATED AT THE B-STREET CRUISE TERMINAL
ANN MOORE IS THE CHAIR OF THE PORT'S BOARD OF PORT COMMISSIONERS.
SHE SAYS THE AGREEMENT NOT ONLY ENHANCES BUSINESS OPERATIONS BUT ALSO SUPPORTS A THRIVING CRUISE INDUSTRY THAT INJECTS MILLIONS INTO OUR REGION'S ECONOMY
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CAL FIRE IS SUSPENDING ALL RESIDENTIAL BURN PERMITS ACROSS THE COUNTY AS OF NEXT MONTH
THE SUSPENSION GOES INTO EFFECT MAY FIRST AT 8 A.M.
OFFICIALS SAY THE SUSPENSION WAS PROMPTED BY VEGETATION GROWTH SPURRED BY TEMPERATURES RISING EARLIER IN THE SEASON, SEASONAL WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY
CAL FIRE SAYS SUSPENDING BURN PERMITS HELPS TO SAFEGUARD COMMUNITIES AND RESOURCES
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DURING THE FIRST ROUND OF THE NFL DRAFT ON THURSDAY, THE MIAMI DOLPHINS SELECTED FORMER SD-SU AZTEC CHRIS JOHNSON
JOHNSON PLAYS THE DEFENSIVE POSITION OF CORNERBACK.
SDSU SAYS HE’S THE 1ST DEFENSIVE PLAYER FROM SD-SU TO BE SELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE NFL DRAFT...SINCE 19-72
JOHNSON ALSO IS THE THIRD DEFENSIVE PLAYER EVER IN SD-SU'S FOOTBALL PROGRAM HISTORY AND JUST THE TENTH PLAYER OVERALL TO BE DRAFTED IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE NFL DRAFT
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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A LOCAL NONPROFIT HAS FOUND FEWER PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SAN DIEGO RIVERBED COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR.
PENNER FELLOW EMMY BURRUS REPORTS MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE ARE FINDING HOUSING.
RIVERBED (eb) TRT 1:15 SOQ
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Along the banks of the San Diego Riverbed from Ocean Beach to Santee, the San Diego River Park Foundation counted 195 people experiencing homelessness this month. That’s about twenty three percent less people than were living unhoused here this time last year.
The Foundation’s Clean River Program Manager Rachel Downing said this is the result of her team’s daily work in the riverbed to connect people with service providers and clean up trash.
“If we want a healthy river, we have to make sure that nobody's living down here and disposing of their waste down here. However, we understand that everybody experiencing homelessness is living in a different situation, and they deserve our respect because they're part of our community.”
The census data is given to policy makers and service providers to advocate for more resources to the riverbed. One of these service providers for the City of San Diego is PATH. Their workers are also in the riverbed daily to get people housed. Jayna (JANE-uh) Lee is the Associate Director of Programs.
“And so to bring that number down, like, yes, we're moving people out and we're getting them into the right places.”
Over the past year, Lee said PATH has helped permanently house 71 people from the riverbed. More went to temporary housing. She says unhoused census counts might not find everyone and new people move in and out of the riverbed year-round.
Emmy Burrus, KPBS News.
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A COALITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS JOINED FORCES AND LAUNCHED A NEW CAMPAIGN AGAINST OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING ON FRIDAY.
REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS THEY ARE WORRIED THAT OFFSHORE DRILLING COULD HARM MARINE LIFE AND DESTROY THE COASTAL ECONOMY.
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DRILLING 1(AN) TRT: 0:56 soq
The billboard shows oil rigs on the horizon at the beach during sunset with the message, enjoy your sunset stop offshore drilling.
It’s the brainchild of the Sierra Club and Wildcoast. They say oil drilling will threaten California’s coastal ecosystems, communities and industries that depend on a healthy ocean.
In November, the Trump administration announced a plan for new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades.
Whale and dolphin watching boat Capt. Russell D. Moore says besides the devastation to marine life. There’s also a human cost to oil spills.
“A complete die off that would threaten to close industries that depend on daily activity. Sport fishing boats don't go out on Saturday. Sunday, they go out seven days a week to pay the crew to pay their families to keep the boat running.”
Captain Russell says these families can’t survive a prolonged shutdown.
Environmentalists say offshore drilling could disrupt the 15 billion dollar california coast economy.
AN/KPBS
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY VOTERS WILL LIKELY DECIDE THIS NOVEMBER WHETHER TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO COUNTY GOVERNANCE.
FOR THE LATEST WHY IT MATTERS SEGMENT, VOICE OF SAN DIEGO REPORTER LISA HALVERSTADT EXPLAINS WHAT’S BEING PROPOSED.
CHARTER 1 (vosd) 1:46 “why it matters”
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For decades, San Diego County managers and bureaucrats have had unique sway over county government.
County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and a coalition of supporters want to shift the balance of power to give county residents and supervisors - like Lawson-Remer - more influence over day-to-day operations and the budget.
“United behind a common concern and a common set of priorities that it is vital that we have a transparent, accountable, stable, modern county government to best be able to respond to the urgent needs of San Diegans.”
This week Lawson-Remer and fellow board Democrats took an initial vote to place reforms on the November ballot.
The changes could give supervisors a third term – up from two, four-year terms. Proponents say this would give constituents more experienced supervisors, better able to fulfill campaign promises. Opponents see this as a selfish move by Lawson-Remer and others to give themselves more time on the job.
Lawson-Remer also wants supervisors to take a vote on certain top county hires – and to fire those officials with a super majority vote. The measure would also create two positions that report to supervisors: a program auditor and budget analyst. These proposals are more popular even with opponents, but some argue these positions should be even more independent – reporting to constituents and perhaps even via elected positions.
The proposal also calls for a new county ethics commission to investigate complaints against elected county officials.
County supervisors are set to take a required second vote on these proposals on May 19. If they sign off, voters will see a charter measure on the November ballot.
I’m Lisa Halverstadt for Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters.
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ALSO ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER – WHETHER TO IMPOSE NEW VOTER I-D AND CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
LOCAL REPUBLICAN STATE ASSEMBLYMAN CARL DEMAIO {Duh-MY-OH} IS ONE OF THE SUPPORTERS OF THE STATEWIDE BALLOT MEASURE.
IT WOULD REQUIRE VOTERS TO PRESENT GOVERNMENT-ISSUED I-DS AT THE POLLS OR PROVIDE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION WHEN VOTING BY MAIL.
IT WOULD ALSO REQUIRE THE STATE TO ISSUE VOTER ID CARDS UPON REQUEST AND MANDATE ANNUAL REPORTS ON VOTER CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION RATES.
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HOW WILL I SPEND MY TIME AFTER RETIREMENT? IT’S A QUESTION MANY OF US FACE AS THAT LONG-AWAITED DAY NEARS.
REPORTER JOHN CARROLL HAS THE STORY OF ONE SAN DIEGAN WHO’S KEEPING HIS LIFELONG LOVE OF MUSIC GOING IN A UNIQUE WAY.
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FRENCHHORN 4:06 SOQ
TRACK:
In the garage of an El Cajon home owned by a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony… something sonorous is going on. There are no cars, but there are a number of French Horns.
((FRENCH HORN NATS UP AGAIN))
“After a number of auditions for the San Diego Symphony, I won a job as the fourth horn of the San Diego Symphony.”
TRACK:
That’s Doug Hall. He played French Horn in the San Diego Symphony for 36 years. He retired a couple of years ago, but French Horns are still a huge part of his life. He loves them so much that he makes - and fixes them here. His shop is called McCracken Horns. So, why isn’t it “Hall Horns?” It’s named for George McCracken, a legendary designer and creator of brass instruments.
SOT (0441) 10:52:09 - 52:17 - 41:03
CG: Doug Hall/McCracken Horns owner
“It was like working with Leonard Bernstein in a French horn shop. I called George the Stradivarius of French horn making. //CUT TO 10:40:48// I was with George McCracken in Virginia as an apprentice before I came to California, and we built a lot of horns and I learned a lot. He was my teacher, mentor.”
TRACK:
If you’ve ever wondered about how a French Horn works, Hall’s the man with the answers… and the horns.
SOT (0442) 11:04:38 - 04:43
“It’s a natural horn. It’s a copy of a French instrument that was made in the 1800’s.”
SOT (0442) 11:04:56 - 05:07
((HIM PLAYING)) “A little Beethoven.”
TRACK:
You’d be forgiven for thinking a French Horn is a French Horn. But there are actually myriad varieties… using metal bent into gentle curves… valves letting air in and out of here and there.
((SOME NAT))
TRACK:
Back to Hall’s story… as a child in Washington DC, he had a watershed moment.
SOT (0441) 11:02:02 - 02:16
“I went to the National Symphony in Constitution Hall, and the horn player stood up and played Till Eulenspiegel, and I was like, oh, I want to do that. And the rest is history.”
TRACK:
Fast forward to Hall’s apprenticeship with George McCracken, and his desire to play, rather than fix and make horns, was stirring. So, he did something that would bring him to California and change his life.
SOT (0441) 10:41:23 - 41:34
“I missed playing my horn, and I sent a cassette tape to Leonard Bernstein who hired me to be, uh, the principal horn of the LA Philharmonic Institute at the Hollywood Bowl.”
TRACK:
That led to stints with various orchestras in the west before he finally landed with the San Diego Symphony. Then, a few years ago, he got a call from a then 92-year old George McCracken who was ready to retire.
SOT 10:52:03 - 52:09 - 52:41
“And I was a little bit shocked because of course you never want something like that to end. //CUT TO 52:18// And so we designed these horns, and I helped him finish other instruments that he was trying to get done. And then he said, you got to buy the shop. And I'm like, okay. And I end up putting it all in a pod, a moving pod, and moved it here. And it was an adventure.”
TRACK:
The adventure continues for this skilled musician steeped in the tradition of the French Horn.
SOT (0441) 10:54:07 - 54:20
“Most musicians are looking for a sound. How can they make the most beautiful sound that they possibly can? Of course, the French horn is one of the most beautiful instruments. It's very romantic.”
((NATS OF HIM HERE PLAYING SOMETHING GOOD))
TRACK:
George McCracken died in 2024. Now, the desire to keep French Horns in the musical mix continues to power the romance between Doug Hall and his beloved instruments. A fulfilling next chapter in the soundtrack of his life. JC, 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!
