Lower prices from SDG&E
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, March first.
S-D-G-AND-E customers will see lower prices this month. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The city of Chula Vista’s Tenant Protection Ordinance goes into effect today.
It’s the first of its kind in the county.
It limits no-fault evictions, increases the amount of relocation assistance landlords must provide tenants, and increases protections against landlord harassment and retaliation.
The new law was passed by the Chula Vista City Council last fall.
The city of San Diego is currently working on similar protections.
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Home sales in San Diego County were at a 35-year low in January.
According to reporting by the San Diego Union-Tribune, more than 16-hundred homes were sold in January.
Rising interest rates are the main reason for the decline in sales.
Also, less homes are for sale, because homeowners are staying put, to hold on to lower interest rates.
In January, San Diego County’s median home price fell for the eighth month to nearly 751-thousand-dollars.
That includes resale single-family homes, condos, townhouses and newly built homes.
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More stormy weather is in store for San Diego County today.
We can expect cold temps. and rain throughout the day.
The National Weather Service also put out a Wind Advisory until 6 P-M.
Gusts could reach 50 miles per hour.
Heavy snowfall is also expected in our mountain areas today.
Forecasters say to use extra caution when driving, and to secure outdoor objects.
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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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S-D-G-AND-E customers will see lower prices this month.
Environment reporter Erik Anderson has details.
SDGandE officials say the cost of natural gas in Southern California is falling again. The price was set at 60 cents a therm in March which is significantly lower than the three dollars and 45 cents customers paid in January. SDG-and-E’s Anthony Wagner says the commodity price is back to its normal range. “Historically, as we get out of January, into February,. March, April and May. Usage of gas in order to heat your home goes down. So the less you use actually depresses the supply and the demand of the market.” Wagner says customers who paid 225 dollars for their gas bill in January can expect to pay about 85 dollars in March. He says climate credits from the state’s cap and trade program will also start showing up in people’s bills this month. Erik Anderson KPBS News.
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As the U-S Supreme Court considers arguments for and against President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, here in San Diego, those who are most impacted had something to say about the case.
Education reporter M.G. Perez has more.
The California State University System has supported the Biden loan forgiveness plan from the beginning for students in need at all its campuses…as well as… for students who are hoping to be accepted at a Cal State school. …that includes 17 year old Amayrani Calderon, a junior at the Preuss Charter School for students from low-income families. She and her classmates toured the campus of San Diego State, Tuesday…and she has a message for the the U-S Supreme Court justices. “I dont’ think you should have to pay to go to school to pursue a career and be something in life where you want to give back to your community.” Calderon told KPBS News…she plans to be a neonatal surgeon…That could eventually cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition once she graduates from high school next year. MGP KPBS News.
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They can write essays for students, create art and music, and even help with office work.
You may have heard of generative A-I, like Chat G-P-T or DALL-E…
But what are they exactly?
Reporter Jacob Aere looks at how these complex machine learning algorithms are impacting San Diegans.
Picture an online technology that … with a little human prompting … can write, code, create images and audio and even make videos … almost as good as we can. That’s now a reality – they're called generative artificial intelligence systems. University of San Diego professor Anna (AN-uh) Marbut (MAR-bit) explains how one of them works. Anna Marbut USD Professor of applied artificial intelligence “You say ‘hi chat GPT. How are you doing today?’ And chat GPT produces probability for many different responses and then picks basically the highest probability response and that's what it spits out.” Chat G-P-T is the most famous version of generative A-I. It’s only been out since November… but already has more than 100-million users… including many high school and college students. Manu Agni UC San Diego Student “I would say students who are actively using it at least maybe for one assignment a week, probably a third to a half.” Manu Agni is a senior at U-C San Diego. He says many students won't admit to using the AI tools – because they feel guilty or are unsure if it will get them in trouble. In fact, UC San Diego sent out a letter to students about artificial intelligence systems. Manu Agni UC San Diego Student “Basically they said if a professor isn't explicitly allowing it, it's not allowed. It's considered cheating.” Agni says some UCSD professors have kept it banned, while others have given it a partial or full green light. Marbut says while the text-based systems can sound convincingly human… they’re not perfect. Anna Marbut USD Professor of applied artificial intelligence “The model can give false answers, can give answers that they are actually not supposed to give. So they've also been trained to not give harmful answers to questions, but you can trick them depending on how you prompt them.” A-I is also causing a stir in the art world… *NAT pop of voice cloning tech* Some local artists like Beck Haberstroh apply the technology in their work… but there is controversy over the way the systems are used. Beck Haberstroh San Diego artist who uses AI “They’re trained often times on the work of artists or writers who are not being credited or compensated for that work. And so to me that's a concern with how these kinds of programs might impact the arts community broadly speaking.” While some local artists are using generative AI to help create digital images and physical paintings … Haberstroh’s works often question the ethics of the fast-growing technology. Beck Haberstroh San Diego artist who uses AI “Who's well represented, who's not represented? Who's made more visible by them, who's made less visible by them? So I think there's a lot of potential for exploitation the more and more that we use these programs.” Agni compares the current quality of ChatGPT’s writing to a talented sophomore in high school, but he says it notably can't do citations just yet. Still, Agni says its use goes beyond the classroom. Manu Agni UC San Diego Student “For college application essays, for applications to graduate school, job applications, scholarships, writing samples for a creative job – this thing has infinite uses.” Marbut says rules and regulations for generative AI will be key as the technology is here to stay. But she did want to clarify one thing to people who are wary or scared about the so-far unregulated technology. Anna Marbut USD Professor of applied artificial intelligence “But I don't think that we as a society need to be worried about, you know, general artificial intelligence at this point. I think we're still a long ways off from that.” And while UC San Diego warns against using AI – Agni sees it as a tool rather than cheating. Plus, he says there's pressure to embrace generative AI … or risk falling behind. Manu Agni UC San Diego Student “I mean I don't use it to complete assignments, but certainly when I've had writer's block or when I've needed some inspiration on a topic, it's too tempting.” Marbut says the technology could impact many fields in San Diego in the coming years – such as business, science, healthcare and even the media. But just to be clear, chatGPT didn't help me write this story. And for now, I'm happy about that. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
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Coming up.... How one brewer is trying to diversify the brewing scene. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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Thunderous, window-rattling booms were again heard and felt across San Diego County Monday, on the heels of a similar event Friday… and the U-S Geological Survey reported no earthquakes in our area.
A local aerodynamics engineering professor offers one possible explanation.
Here’s military reporter Andrew Dyer with more.
“Now when an airplane starts flying supersonically, there's a very defined line of a shockwave, a shock cone, and you hear it much more clearly.” Joseph Katz is an aerospace engineering professor at San Diego State who uses a supersonic wind tunnel to test the aerodynamic properties of aircraft. Katz says that supersonic aircraft are likely suspect whenever shockwaves are felt and heard across San Diego count. “If it's an explosion, then it decays with the distance. Okay. If it's an airplane then it's the same strength following through, but it's going to be a very narrow line when the airplane goes through. So it will follow the airplane flight path.” Military officials have not offered any explanation for the booms heard Friday or Monday although a Marine Corps official said routine flight operations are conducted daily. Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
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San Diego is a beer town.
According to the Brewers Guild, there are more than 1 hundred and 50 independent craft breweries here.
What has long been missing from the craft brewing industry, however, is representation of brewers from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
San Diego native and rapper Kemet Ackee is trying to change that, one beer at a time.
He’s a brewer at Second Chance Beer Company, and hopes his work in the industry will help bring about a more inclusive brewing scene.
My colleague Jade Hindmon recently spoke with Kemet Ackee about beer and music.
Here’s their conversation.
So Kemet, what got you into brewing in the first place - were you a big beer guy before becoming a brewer?
You got into brewing after spending some time in the army… did your global travels spark any kind of interest or insight into brewing for you?
Do you think you could pick out one style of beer as your favorite - or is that kind of like picking out a favorite child?
A lot of people can find certain kinds of beer to be a little inaccessible or intimidating… How do you encourage people to explore what’s out there?
You’ve developed your own beer - it’s a hoppy Kolsch called “All I Want” and it was designed specifically for Black history month - talk a little bit about this creation of yours?
Where does the name come from?
Black and brown brewers are often underrepresented in this industry - why do you think that is?
Like you said earlier, this beer is also a collaboration with your brand “All My Friends are Rappers” - which really boosts the local hip-hop scene. Can you talk about why beer and music are such a perfect combination for you?
That was rapper and Second Chance brewer, Kemet Ackee, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host, Jade Hindmon.
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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 Wednesday.
