Migrants still crossing border near Jacumba

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, November 16th.

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Hundreds of migrants are still coming across the border near Jacumba Hot Springs.

More on how C-B-P is handling the situation, next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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The University of California system is spending 7-million-dollars to improve its response to conflicts stemming from the Israel - Hamas war.

U-C president Michael Drake says some students and staff members expressed feeling unsafe in light of what they feel is tension on campuses.

The funding is meant to enhance safety and improve the climate on U-C's 10 campuses, including UC-SD.

It will be used for emergency mental health services, educational programs to help improve public discourse and training for staff and faculty.

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California utility regulators are poised to rewrite solar rules for complexes with more than one electric meter.

Schools, farms and small businesses stand to lose significant financial incentives.

A revised plan included renters, but reduced incentives for landlords.

Solar advocate Bernadette Del Chiaro says the state needs to encourage and not discourage solar installations.

“We need utility scale projects to move forward. We need distributed projects to move forward. And we need efficiency and conservation.  That’s how we get to 100 percent clean energy in California.  And we really need the governor to make it a priority.”

The California Public Utilities Commission is voting on the proposed rules today (Thursday).

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More sidewalks may soon be getting repaired in the city of San Diego.

That’s because the city council this week, approved a new campaign to speed up the process.

It includes notifying thousands of property owners that they are responsible for repairs near their properties, waiving a more than 2-thousand-dollar permit fee and streamlining an approval process.

The city will begin sending out the notices to property owners this winter.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the city currently has more than 230-million-dollars worth of sidewalk repairs to catch up on.

The permit fee will be waived through June 20-26.

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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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Hundreds of migrants are still coming across the border near Jacumba Hot Springs each day… and being held without proper shelter at outdoor sites.

Reporter Jacob Aere says the months-long issue is now being compounded by increasingly inhospitable weather.

Months after migrant camps first formed near Jacumba Hot Springs … they're still going strong … despite the weather which is quickly becoming much colder and wetter in the area. “The movement has actually accelerated.” Sam Schultz is the boots on the ground help for many of the migrants. He says Customs and Border Protection started detaining migrants at a trio of sites near Jacumba back in May. “There are more people going through every day, an average of 350 to 500 per day through the camps. The big change is that the Border Patrol has become more efficient at moving them out.” In addition to firewood, Schultz said blankets, warmer clothing and better shelter are what the migrants at the sites now need most. Customs and Border Protection sent us a statement saying it’s leveraging all available resources and partnerships to vet and process migrants…  and that it prioritizes the health and safety of all they encounter by providing appropriate medical care and coordinating with emergency medical services. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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Chula Vista city councilmember Andrea Cardenas is facing new calls to resign amid criminal charges.

South Bay reporter Kori Suzuki says some critics are now focusing on her position with SANDAG.

It’s been almost two weeks since Chula Vista City Councilmember Andrea Cardenas was charged with fraud and grand theft of federal pandemic aid dollars. On Tuesday, the City Council met for the first time since San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the charges – seven felony counts – against the first term councilmember. Ahead of the meeting, a group of Chula Vista residents stood on the steps of city hall and called for Cardenas to step down. Jesse Navarro is a retired San Diego police officer and Chula Vista resident. “Now that things are coming forward. We must continue to hold her accountable. And basically, she has any decency. She shouldn't resign. She should resign immediately.” Cardenas did not show up to Tuesday’s city council meeting. If Cardenas doesn’t resign, some critics say city officials should remove her from her position on SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments. That’s the regional agency that oversees transportation and planning. Critics also said the city should censure Cardenas or suspend her without pay. The group that held the late-afternoon press conference says their protest wasn’t about politics. Still, many of them say they don’t trust the council’s Democrats and want Republican Mayor John McCan to take Cardenas’ seat on SANDAG. Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

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A charter school network in North County says it recently dropped its policy protecting transgender students’ privacy because of the threat of a lawsuit.

Advocates tell North County reporter Alexander Nguyen that the new policy essentially outs students to parents.

The classical academies is a charter school network serving more than 53-hundred students in north county classical chief executive officer cameron curry said in a statement to kpbs that the school changed its policy after a threat of legal action by a constitutional lawyer. dean broyles … the lawyer in question … says there was no threat. dean broyles national center for law & policy “we didn't specifically threaten a lawsuit against classical academy over their “parent secrets” policy. but we did inform them that their policy was unconstitutional and needed to be changed.” unlike the old policy, classical's new policy requires parents to be notified if a student changes their pronouns or names to match their gender identity  -- even without the student's consent. curry said the old policy was nearly identical to the one by escondido union school district … which is currently under litigation. an/kpbs.

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Coming up.... How will holiday travel be impacted by the construction at the San Diego airport.

“It’s not so much the traffic congestion related to the project itself, it’s probably added a little bit, but it’s more just the volume of people going to and from the airport.”

We’ll have more on what you can expect at the airport, just after the break.

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A major milestone was celebrated yesterday (Wednesday) in the new Terminal One project at the San Diego International Airport.

The new building’s last steel beam was placed, after being signed by airport management and local dignitaries.

The next step will be to place glass on the exterior of the new terminal, which is now 40-percent complete.

Airport authority board chairman Gil Cabrera says this won’t be just any glass.

“You’re going to see the exterior walls of the building go up and what’s called the luminous wave which is the glass enclosure of the building which will look like a wave pattern and it does a great job of letting light in so it’s very bright inside from outdoor light, but it will hold out the heat of the sun.”

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My colleague Jade Hindmon spoke with Lori Weisberg, who’s a reporter with the San Diego-Union Tribune and has been following the airport redevelopment, and the tourism industry here in San Diego.

Here’s that interview.

So before we get into the future of the airport, let’s talk about it right now- particularly with the busy holiday travel season upon us. What do people need to know as they plan airport trips next week?

Any advice on how much of a headstart someone needs to get to the airport, given those complications are there?

But now, has the location of ridesharing changed with the construction?

There are 2 main phases of the airport’s redevelopment. Can you break down what is included in each?

Holiday travel in Southern California seems to be back at full strength for the first time since 2019… But what about San Diego’s tourism industry? Has it rebounded as well?

TAG: That was San Diego Union Tribune reporter Lori Weisberg speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host, Jade Hindmon.

The airport redevelopment project is supposed to be finished by early 20-28.

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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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories, plus, we have details on how you can donate and volunteer ahead of Thanksgiving. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.