New California solar rules
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, November 17th.
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State regulators reject calls to preserve financial incentives for solar.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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Workers at more than 200 U-S Starbucks locations, including here in San Diego walked off the job yesterday.
They’re calling for management to bargain with baristas over staffing levels, scheduling and other concerns.
It was also one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year… “Red Cup Day.”
It’s the day when Starbucks hands out free reusable holiday cups to customers.
Yesterday’s strike was the fifth major labor action by Starbucks workers since a store in New York became the first to unionize two years ago.
Two Starbucks in the county have already unionized, but nationally nearly 400 stores have voted to unionize since 20-21.
Starbucks is against the unionization effort, and hasn’t reached a labor agreement with any of the stores.
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One side of the Ped-West pedestrian crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry is open again, after being closed for two months.
The border crossing will only be open in the northbound direction from Tijuana into San Diego.
It will also be open during limited hours from 6 in the morning, to 2 p-m.
C-B-P says the closure was put in place to help agents process an increasing number of asylum seekers arriving at the border.
The agency also said it will continue to evaluate the situation along the border and make changes as necessary.
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The rainy weather is returning this afternoon, and continuing into the weekend.
Today, temperatures in the county’s inland valleys and desert areas will be in the 70s, by the coast it’ll be in the mid-60s, and temps in the mountains will be in the high 50s.
Forecasters say tomorrow will be the coolest day of the week.
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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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California regulators have approved new rules for solar panels on apartments, farms and schools.
Environment reporter Erik Anderson says the decision rejected calls to preserve financial incentives.
“The vote is five-zero. The item passes.” California Public Utilities Commission president Alice Reynolds ended a three-year process to overhaul the state’s solar rules. The single-family home revisions – which slashed the value of electricity produced on rooftops, took effect in the spring. The rules for properties with more than one electric meter will go into effect next year except for existing solar customers. Paying for the grid was the CPUC’s primary focus. Shiroma douglas houck “At the end of the day, the only source for covering the cost of the system is from customers. And those costs are not going away and in fact, as commissioner Reynolds said, we’re seeing a lot of price and cost pressures.” The legislature mandated the review which slashed the credits solar owners can claim. Erik Anderson KPBS News.
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Families are gathering outside San Diego City Hall today, to mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
San Diego has pledged to make streets safer, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists who are most likely to die in a collision.
But as metro reporter Andrew Bowen explains, the families of traffic victims say change needs to happen faster.
SS: Laura was coming up the hill, north by the golf course… AB: I'm walking with Steve Shinn along Pershing Drive in Balboa Park. Two and a half years ago, on a sunny morning in July, Steve's wife, Laura, was riding her bike from her home downtown to SDSU. She worked there as an architect and campus planner. SS: There was just a slight curve, a very slight curve in the road. She was in the bike lane. AB: Laura was probably catching her breath after riding uphill when a driver struck her from behind. He was going the speed limit at the time — 50 miles per hour. STEVE SHINN WIDOWER OF LAURA SHINN SS: He hit her so hard that she was actually ripped out of her shoes that were clipped into the bike. (22:06) We were always very careful in our cycling and had helmets and lights and safety gear and mirrors that we could see behind us. But all of that wasn't enough. AB: Laura Shinn died that day. She was 57. SS: We did everything together. We were in the same profession… And I realized with her loss that it was like losing half of me. AB: Just two months after Laura's death, tragedy struck again in the same place. A driver hit and killed 34-year-old Johnny Sepulveda as he was riding a scooter. Both lives may have been saved if Pershing Drive had had a protected bike lane. There's one under construction now… but it's years behind schedule. SS: And it's just discouraging that it actually took two deaths to get the city and SANDAG to step up and start to make the improvements that were slated to already be done, that could have saved both of those people. AB: In 2015, San Diego signed on to Vision Zero, a campaign to end all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2025. The idea was to redesign streets to make pedestrian and bike safety priority number 1. But with just over a year left until the city's Vision Zero deadline, the death toll of San Diego streets is essentially unchanged. TG: We try our very best to balance the needs of all users. AB: Mayor Todd Gloria says much of San Diego was designed around the car, and changing that takes time. TODD GLORIA SAN DIEGO MAYOR TG: We need to balance our system to take into consideration the needs, particularly the safety needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and others. And the projects that are happening all across the city are trying to achieve that particular balance. We don't always get it right. SS: The response has still been I think mostly supportive in terms of words but not a lot of action. AB: Since losing his wife, Steve Shinn has thrown himself into activism. He joined Families for Safe Streets San Diego, a coalition of others who have lost loved ones to traffic violence. They're asking Mayor Gloria for a massive increase in spending on bike and pedestrian safety infrastructure. SS: I understand we have tight budgets. But at the same time when we have plans in place and goals in place and we're not following through on those, I think the city needs to do more to figure out how they're allocating dollars.
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We’re less than one week away from Thanksgiving, and the American Farm Bureau says the cost of the big feast is a little lower than it was last year.
But, as reporter Melissa Mae tells us, advocates trying to end hunger in the county, say they’re not seeing much of an improvement.
MM: Anahid Brakke is the president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger Coalition. MM: She says while the state of hunger in the county has not changed significantly since last year. AB “One in four people are living in a household that doesn't have sufficient income to purchase 3 healthy meals a day.” MM: One of the biggest differences is the end of pandemic aid for food assistance. AB “In March 2023, which was the last month that people got that pandemic boost to their CalFresh benefits. We had almost closed the meal gap.” MM: Families will start getting a new major benefit next summer. They’ll get summer EBT cards with $40 dollars per child a month to help buffer the loss of school meals. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
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Some South Bay high school seniors have met the deadlines for their college applications, thanks to a day of intensive support from their school.
Education reporter M.G. Perez has our story on the college “palooza.”
It wasn’t a music festival …this College Palooza at the High Tech High school in Chula Vista…turned the stress of meeting application deadlines into more of a festive day of resources and advising. The event’s slogan “no pie til you apply” …gave 158 seniors incentive to complete as many college applications as possible. Seniors also got help applying for scholarship money …and getting critiques on those personal essays required by most four year universities. 17 year old Sophia DeLeon has applied to several back up schools…but she really wants an early decision from Stanford to study architecture..“I really like math …and I really like art…as opposed to reading and writing…I think it’s a great way to combine both of my favorite subjects.” We’re told…there was plenty of pie awarded to the high tech high seniors for their full day of palooza progress. MGP KPBS News.
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Coming up.... Our KPBS South Bay engagement producer joins me with tips on how you can volunteer and donate during the holidays. We’ll have that and more, just after the break.
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The holiday season is here which can inspire us to help those in need.
With many San Diegans facing hardships, there are many opportunities to give back.
Here to share how you can volunteer during the holidays, is South Bay Engagement Producer, Marielena Castellanos.
Marielena, welcome back to the San Diego News Now podcast.
One of the popular forms of volunteering over the holidays is serving meals. What types of opportunities are there along those lines?
In what other ways can we do our part during the holidays?
And for those who are in the spirit of giving but don’t really have the time, how can they help?
Are donations the only way to help if someone is limited in time and money?
Outside of the organizations you mentioned here, how else can someone learn more about where and how they can volunteer?
TAG: Marielena, thank you for gathering all this information for us and for joining me on the San Diego News Now podcast.
I hope you have a great day and happy holidays!
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If you want to attend Comic-Con next summer, you have one last chance to get badges.
Tomorrow at 9 a-m, open registration sales will commence, and arts reporter Beth Accomando has these tips.
Comic-Con may be nine months away but hopeful attendees are anxiously awaiting badge sales at open registration. Tony Kim of Crazy4Comic-Con says the first thing you need to do is sign up for a member ID on the Comic-Con website before Saturday morning. TONY KIM The waiting room will open up at 8 a.m. Pacific time, and the actual sale occurs at 9 a.m., so technically get in anytime between 8 and 8:59, and you'll be randomized into the purchase process. It is very important to just chill, don't do anything. Don't back click, don't forward click. Just wait and you'll be fine… It can also be nerve-wracking but Kerry Dixon, editor in chief at The San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog, advises people to read all the information Comic-Con provides on its website to prep for Saturday. KERRY DIXON The other advice that we always recommend is the best chance that you have to get a badge is going to be to work in a group. When it is your turn to purchase, you can purchase badges for up to three people. So the more people that you have waiting, the chances of you getting a badge automatically go up. But if anything does go wrong, Dixon recommends taking a screenshot or video recording and then contacting Comic-Con through a form on its website. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Producer Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth. We’d like to thank KPBS reporters Katie Hyson and Matt Hoffman, along with KPBS editor Nic McVicker for helping the podcast team this week. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again on Monday for the day’s top stories, and to kick off Thanksgiving week together. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.