NCTD receives $53.9M for rail improvements
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, January TWENTY-SIXTH.
Millions of dollars are going towards improvements on North County railways. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
The La Mesa Spring Valley School District says it will take at least a month to clean up the damage from Monday’s storm at Bancroft Elementary.
The campus was devastated by high water, mud and debris.
500 students and 60 staff members were evacuated. They’re now holding classes at nearby Spring Valley Academy.
Franci Filskov has a 10 year old daughter who was displaced by the damage.
RAINREPAIRS 2A :08 “She seems to be okay. It's a little you know, unsettling at first but you know, she knows all the staff and the faculty and all the kids. So it makes it easier I think.”
District officials have determined the damage was so bad that flooring in every classroom and office will have to be replaced.
A fund for flood victims has been established by the county and the San Diego Foundation.
The money raised will be given to nonprofits assisting in flood relief.
The San Diego Foundation will be matching donations up to 100-THOUSAND dollars.
To donate to the fund, visit KPBS dot ORG backslash weather.
A financial aid proposal for child care providers was approved by county Supervisors this week.
The proposal includes over TWO MILLION dollars for infrastructure, to create a database of child care facilities and for a peer-mentoring program for child care providers.
Recent data from the state showed that SEVENTY-FIVE percent of providers don’t pay themselves a salary.
Those that do make 30-THOUSAND dollars annually on average.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
CONGRESSMAN MIKE LEVIN TOOK A RIDE YESTERDAY (THURSDAY) ON THE COASTER FROM SOLANA BEACH TO OCEANSIDE TO UNVEIL NEW FUNDING TO REPLACE THE aging SAN DIEGUITO RAILWAY RIVER BRIDGE.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AS ANOTHER LANDSLIDE IN SAN CLEMENTE DISRUPTS TRAIN SERVICE GOING NORTH.
THE LOS ANGELES-SAN DIEGO-SAN LUIS OBISPO RAIL CORRIDOR OR LOSSAN … IS THE SECOND BUSIEST INTERCITY RAIL CORRIDOR IN THE NATION, ACCORDING TO THE SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS. CONGRESSMAN MIKE LEVIN ENDED HIS RAIL TRIP IN OCEANSIDE BEFORE DRIVING TO SAN CLEMENTE TO TOUR THE LANDSLIDE “EVERY TIME I RIDE ON THE CORRIDOR, I KNOW THAT THE CONDITIONS ARE PRECARIOUS. AND WE PARTICULARLY SEE IN SOME PARTS OF THE CORRIDOR, WHETHER IT'S DOWN IN DEL MAR OR UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, YOU REALLY ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK. ” THAT'S WHERE THE $53.8 MILLION IN FUNDING FROM THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL COMES IN. IT WILL BE USED TO REPLACE SAN DIEGUITO RAILWAY RIVER BRIDGE, MOVING IT FROM A SINGLE TO A DOUBLE TRACK AND RAISING THE BRIDGE BY 8 FEET BECAUSE OF SEA-LEVEL RISE. IT WILL ALSO ADD A SPECIAL STOP AT THE DEL MAR FAIRGROUNDS. AN/KPBS
AN INVESTIGATION FOUND THE METROPOLITAN TRANSIT SYSTEM DID NOT FIRE AN EMPLOYEE LAST YEAR IN RETALIATION FOR ACCUSING EX-BOARD MEMBER NATHAN FLETCHER OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
Reporter AMITA SHARMA SAYS THE INVESTIGATION WAS COMMISSIONED BY MTS.
The inquiry stems from a lawsuit filed last March against the agency by former MTS PR specialist Grecia Figueroa. Figueroa alleged MTS failed to prevent Fletcher, who was also San Diego County Supervisor, from sexually harassing her. She also accused the agency of firing her because of Fletcher’s alleged harassment. The MTS probe was carried out by Oppenheimer Investigations Group. It drew a different conclusion. Investigators say they found no evidence that MTS knew of either a consensual or non-consensual relationship between Figueroa and Fletcher. Or that Fletcher directed MTS to fire her. Figueroa’s lawyer told KPBS in a statement that she was thriving at her job at MTS until Fletcher announced he was running for the state senate. Fletcher resigned from the board of supervisors following Figueroa’s allegations. Amita Sharma, KPBS News.
A RECENTLY OBTAINED NAVY INVESTIGATION SAYS A SAN DIEGO SHIP CAPTAIN CREATED A CULTURE OF FEAR BY BULLYING AND SCREAMING AT SUBORDINATES. MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER HAS MORE.
BACK IN OCTOBER THE NAVY DIDN’T SAY WHY CAPTAIN DANIELLE DEFANT WAS REMOVED AS COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE GUIDED-MISSILE CRUISER LAKE ERIE. BUT AN INVESTIGATION OBTAINED VIA THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT SAYS THAT FOR MORE THAN A YEAR THE CAPTAIN ROUTINELY BERATED, YELLED AND SCREAMED AT SUBORDINATE OFFICERS. IN SOME INSTANCES, EVEN STRIKING THEM WHILE IN COMMAND ON THE SHIP’S BRIDGE, ONCE GRABBING ANOTHER OFFICER BY THE COLLAR … SOMETHING THE INVESTIGATOR SAYS MEETS THE DEFINITION OF BATTERY UNDER MILITARY LAW. IT ALSO FOUND THE CAPTAIN’S PERSISTENT REPRIMANDS OF TWO OFFICERS AMOUNTED TO BULLYING. THIBAUT DELLOUE WAS A SURFACE OFFICER IN THE NAVY FOR FIVE YEARS. HE SAYS WORKING UNDER TOXIC LEADERS WAS A BIG REASON HE LEFT THE SERVICE IN 2020. I WAS IN SOME OF THE EXACT SAME SITUATIONS, RIGHT? PEOPLE BEING AFRAID TO APPROACH A CO. YOU KNOW, OFFICERS REDUCED TO TEARS IN FRONT OF THE CO. AND MOST PEOPLE ARE JUST NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH THAT. THEY'RE GOING TO DO THE BARE MINIMUM AND THEN THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE. DELLOUE SAYS THIS CAN MAKE PEOPLE RELUCTANT TO BRING PROBLEMS TO THE C-O WHICH CAN THEN ENDANGER THE SHIP. CITING NAVY POLICY, A NAVAL SURFACE FORCES SPOKESPERSON IN SAN DIEGO DECLINED TO COMMENT ON ANY FURTHER ACTIONS TAKEN AGAINST DEFANT. THROUGH THE SPOKESPERSON DEFANT ALSO DECLINED TO COMMENT. ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS
Coming up.... Putting the spotlight on Black comic book creators. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
Hundreds of people across the county were up before the sun yesterday (THURSDAY) with one goal… count the number of people experiencing homelessness. Reporter John Carroll has more on the annual Point In Time count in the city of San Diego.
“Date of birth?” “September 8th, 1959.” Some questions asked by volunteers from Fr. Joe’s Villages brought perfunctory answers like that. Other answers… were heartbreaking. “Is this the first time you’ve been homeless in your life?” “Well, yeah, November 6th… 3 years ago.” We also checked in on the situation at the city’s first safe sleeping site next to the city operations yard at 20th and B streets. We wanted to know how people fared during Monday’s deluge. Seth Estep lives in the O lot in Balboa Park which did not flood, but he works in the 20th and B lot. The site that greeted him there on Monday was bad. “The water was literally up to almost my kneecaps. It was that bad.” Residents in that site were evacuated to temporary shelters, but it’s dried out now and everyone is back. The number from the Point in Time count isn’t expected to be released for a couple of months. JC, KPBS News.
In North County, KPBS joined a team of three volunteers who encountered numerous people without homes and interviewed those who were willing to talk. One of them was Jason … who didn't want to use his last name…
“There's some good people out here. Trying hard, working hard, doing their part. I've always paid taxes, I've always held a job, I've never taken a subsidy from the government, never taken food stamps. Always supported my children, always done that – all the time.”
Jason says he’s a longtime Oceanside resident and became homeless in the city six years ago. Now he sleeps in a van near his place of work in Vista
The data from the point in time count will be used to determine how to distribute federal homeless relief funding.
SAN DIEGO ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE CHEERING A LAND PURCHASE THAT’LL PROTECT UNDEVELOPED LAND IN THE PROCTER VALLEY NEAR CHULA VISTA. ENVIRONMENT REPORTER ERIK ANDERSON SAYS NEGOTIATORS HAVE COME TO AN AGREEMENT.
Conservationists have a deal for the $60 million dollar purchase of a parcel of land in Proctor Valley. The land was once expected to become another sprawling development on the edge of Chula Vista. The Endangered Habitats League’s Dan Silver says the parcel is now part of the state’s Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. “This will be as good a place as we have in San Diego where people can come and experience the coastal sage scrub ecosystem which is 90 percent gone.” Ironically, the land deal came together in part because of environmental devastation created by the border wall project. The federal government agreed to spend $25 million dollars to buy the San Diego parcel as part of a legal settlement with the Sierra Club. Erik Anderson KPBS News
WorldBeat Cultural Center has dried out from the recent storm and is ready to welcome Black Comix Day on February 3rd and 4th. The event highlights Black creators in the comics industry. Arts and culture reporter Beth Accomando has this preview.
Keithan Jones had a vision for Black Comix Day.
KEITHAN JONES I just thought, let me just make a bat signal for Black creators out there that they can all congregate and come to.
Brian J. Lambert saw that signal and responded.
BRIAN LAMBERT Without Black comics Day, I honestly wouldn't be where I am. I showed up to Black comics day number two because a friend had told me about it, and I had two posters that I had gotten done, and I stapled my business card to, Brian Lambert, writer, author, whatever. I handed them all out.
Now he runs Wingless Comics and Entertainment, which is breaking out into animation with the new project, Air Force Ones.
BRIAN LAMBERT Unless you see someone like you doing it or you see someone who you can relate to doing it, it's hard to get that picture in your head that I can do it as well.
Makeda Cheatom agrees. She runs WorldBeat Cultural Center, which hosts Black Comix Day.
MAKEDA CHEATOM When I was a kid, I never had comics that reflected me as a Black kid. So it means everything to our community to see all these people that are Black expressing themselves through comics. It means the world to me.
That fuels Jones’ desire to keep putting on the show.
KEITHAN JONES Obviously, you hear about people like Stan Lee and Marvel, which is fine, but there's a whole slew of creators out there, particularly creators of color, which is what this show is based on, that are chugging away, trying to get up to that level, and they just need a chance.
Jones is giving them that chance. Plus he wants to highlight the diversity among Black creators. You can find the expected superheroes but also comics about history, African dee·uh·teez, Sam Spade style detectives, and even strippers. Jones calls it a smorgasbord. Since the event is free, he hopes people will use the money saved to sample some of these tasty offerings. He also wants it to be easy for artists to attend.
KEITHAN JONES …The term struggling artists is, unfortunately, it's a real thing. And so I try to make it affordable for them, but at the same time, I do have to pay for putting this thing together.
Sometimes out of his own pocket but he does it because he believes in it. He knows events like this can have life-changing results.
KEITHAN JONES I got started at age 16. I showed my stuff at San Diego Comic Con. I walked around and actually got hired by Apple Comics at the time. This is still a small show, where you can come in and get personal with the artist and, like I said, develop relationships with them that may lead to whatever, some kind of magic in the future.
Once again a pair of panels anchor the convention. On Saturday, Lambert is one of the panelists discussing how Black culture has been portrayed in Japanese anime and manga.
BRIAN LAMBERT There have been some that have been horrible. I'm looking at Dragon Ball Z with Mr. Popo, who's got completely black skin and pink lips.. but then we also get some better characters in newer manga in terms of Fire Force… and so we're just really reviewing the effects of the cultural exchange of Black culture in terms of music, hip hop style, all of that.
And on Sunday, Jones moderates a panel with Cheryl Morrow.
KEITHAN JONES Who is the daughter of Willie Morrow, the inventor of the California curl. He also is the publisher and founder of San Diego Monitor, which is a Black paper that's been in San Diego for many years. He's passed now. So she's continuing his legacy, and she's also an expert in black hair care.
CHERYL MORROW He has coined me, Afro Avenger.
That’s Cheryl Morrow. She’ll be talking about publishing as well as hair.
CHERYL MORROW In black culture, obviously, hair is just one of those things that is not an accessory. It is like the epicenter. And one of the reasons why, because it's the single most important thing that I think that we've had complete ownership of. And you can really express that, right, in comics.
As Jones tries to balance family, his own comic, a publishing company, and organizing an annual convention, he can sometimes feel overwhelmed. But…
KEITHAN JONES I draw energy just from the love of doing it. I honestly don't know how I got this far, but I'm feeling good. And the vibe is feeling right. Jones’ slogan for his company is, “the kid in you never dies.”
And with Black Comix Day we can all discover how true and inspiring that can be – especially for creators of color. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
The 6th annual Black Comix Day is a free event taking place next weekend (Feb. 3-4) at WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park.
That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by Brooke Ruth. Thank you to Joe Guerin and Lara McCaffrey for helping with the podcast this week. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. On Monday, we’ll hear about why kids are spending less time playing outdoors. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
