Police believe they’ve found the body of missing hiker

Good Morning, I’m Emilyn Mohebbi, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, June 25th.

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Police believe they’ve found the body of a hiker who went missing. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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State Senator Steve Padilla was in San Diego yesterday to promote two bills that are up for committee votes today (Tuesday).

The first, wants to put a stop to the creation of a landfill around the Tijuana watershed.

And the second, will hold corporations near the border responsible for the waste they produce.

Here’s Padilla speaking with our media partner 10 News.

“Well it's going to take awhile, but we have to put the pieces in place. My bills, as I explained earlier, are I think important contributions to that effort. We need to protect the Tijuana river watershed and we need to hold folks accountable who continue to contribute to the problem.”

If the bills are approved, they will next go before a second committee.

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The County Board of Supervisors will deliberate on and adopt the county’s budget today (Tuesday).

The more than 8-point-5-billion-dollar revised spending plan was released earlier this month.

It includes funding for behavioral health, homelessness, affordable housing, justice reform and public health and safety.

It also includes funding to support the D-A’s Office, the Migrant Transition Day Center, and a safe parking lot in Grantville.

You can watch and participate in today’s board meeting.

The deliberations start at 9 a-m at the County Administration Center in Downtown.

If you can’t make it in person, you can live-stream it on the county’s YouTube channel, Facebook Live or X.

The new budget will take effect on Monday (July 1).

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There’s an Excessive Heat Warning still in effect in the desert areas, until 8 Thursday night.

Temperatures could reach more than 110 degrees there.

But the National Weather Service says today’s (Tuesday’s) weather will be a few degrees cooler by the coast, inland areas and mountains, compared to yesterday (Monday).

In the inland and mountain areas, temps will be in the high 70s, and by the coast, it’ll be in the low 70s.

Temps. will drop a couple degrees each day throughout the week in most parts of the county.

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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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Police believe they’ve found the body of a hiker who went missing on a Black Mountain trail on Sunday.

Reporter Katie Anastas says she was considered “missing at risk” because of the hot weather and the trail’s difficulty.

Police say 50-year-old Diem Nguyen started hiking the Nighthawk Trail with a large group at 8 a.m. The group turned back about halfway up. Nguyen continued the hike alone. Police say she contacted the group at 9:30 to say she had reached the summit. About half an hour later, she called her family in distress, saying she was hot and needed water. Search and rescue teams looked late into the night and began again Monday morning. San Diego Police Department Lt. Daniel Meyer says a helicopter located a body a short distance away from Carmel Mountain Road. DANIEL MEYER, SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT She was a quarter of a mile away from a population, from reaching a street. So she nearly made it out. Meyer says the county Medical Examiner’s office will continue the investigation. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

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Green Oak Ranch in Vista is home to camps, a recovery program and an R-V park.

But a large part of the land is up for sale... with several agencies lined up as potential buyers.

In part two of a series, North County reporter Tania Thorne breaks down the offers... and what they might mean for the current tenants.

For a long time, Green Oak Ranch was Vista’s best kept secret. Green Oak ministry managed camps, retreats, a men's recovery program, and an RV park on the 140 acre property. But in late April, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to enter negotiations to buy a big part of the ranch – 110 acres. "What I envision for this property is sober living, 24-7 staff and services, 24-7 security monitoring who comes and goes for both the neighborhood and the program participants’ safety. Longer term care, not a revolving door. No walk-ins , only referrals. And all residents to be in programs. Supervisor Jim Desmond introduced the idea of a campus of healing that would bring much needed service to North County, and San Diego as a whole. "North County is a board and care desert . this location would be a great opportunity to significantly expand our regional board and care facilities. That Northern facility that is shown is in Ramona. So North County is in desperate need for board and care." Supervisors agreed to enter into negotiations to buy  the property for $12 million dollars. But it could cost the county over $300 million dollars to bring- the campus of healing to life. Enter interested party number two: Solutions for Change That’s a non profit organization in Vista helping people get out of homelessness. Chris Megison is the organization's CEO. He says they’ve been in negotiations with Green Oaks land board to purchase the property for a year..  "We went through so many different vetting activities with them, multiple meetings.They came here. We went there, many different visits for them to vet us. And then in December of last year, we were notified that we were selected as the entity that they wanted to sell it to." He says they got as far as executing a purchase agreement. "They have our signed purchase and sales agreement in their office right now, today. And we've been told that it's imminent any day now. They will sign it and get it back to us. But in all that, all of a sudden, the county of San Diego comes in out of nowhere." Solutions for Change plans to expand on the program they’ve run for almost three decades. "The vision really includes what we do now, but bigger. So we would have a workforce development center there. We would need the city of Vista's approval to do that. And we'd also have on-campus housing." The city of Vista is contender number three for the property… and Solutions for Change has offered to partner with them….  giving the city  50 acres- that Megison says they can’t develop. . "There's creeks, and there's a lot of brush, and that thing. So we'd be happy to gift that to the city. That saves them 12 million plus in taxpayer funds, and we would be happy to do that.? Vista city council member Dan O’Donnell says the offer is intriguing… but he’s got concerns… including whether Solutions for Change can even make that offer in the first place. In the meantime, the city is doing its own appraisal of the ranch, and O’Donnell sees opportunities.. "you can put ballparks here, you can put different park activities, community centers, other things that will benefit the city, but also benefit Green Oak at the end of the day. So I would love for the city to be able to have an opportunity to activate this space in a way that's going to benefit the the clarity of Vista, as well as keep Green Oak able to operate their Ministry that they do here." He says Vista is in need of more green space and the City shouldn’t miss this opportunity. And Losing Green Oak ranch to the County could mean losing local control of what they decide to do with it. :when we don't have access or the ability to work through what programs they want to bring here, you don't know how many people they can actually help and what vision they have now may change because we all have a ... What they may be wanting to do now could change in 5 or 10 years. I think that's a huge concern for the residents." He would also like to see Green Oak Ranch Ministry continue their work. Hannah Gailey the executive director of the ministry says all plans jeopardize more than their program. "It is a huge loss for the recovery program. It is a loss for the community. There are not a lot of camp and retreat centers of this size in the area anymore. And so it really has a huge impact on our community camp-wise, on our program, especially funding-wise. It is difficult to sleep at night not knowing where all of the residents in the RV park will end up. County Supervisor Jim Desmond and the city of Vista are hosting a town hall about the future of Green Oak Ranch on June 30th. But a final resolution could be years away. TT KPBS News.

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There’s a new place in North County for mountain bikers to drop off, jump and corner the berms.

North County reporter Alexander Nguyen says the badly needed park was years in the making.

The 8-acre bike course at Bradly Park in San Marcos includes a pump track, a perimeter trail and jump lines for all skill levels… from beginners to advance. “we've, worked for a long time to work on a location in North County for such an amenity.” Susie Murphy is the executive director of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association. She says planning for the park started in 20-17 … after the city found that some kids had built unsanctioned jump lines on a protected open space. Susie Murphy San Diego Mountain Biking Association “But of course, that's not really the way to go about it. So the city, contacted us and actually contacted some of those kids and families directly about how we could engage on finding a real place for an official bike park in San Marcos. “ The park is the first of its kind in North County. But it won’t be alone soon. Two others are planned in the coming years. AN/KPBS.

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Juneteenth in San Diego means festivals, barbeques and block parties across the region.

All to celebrate the end of slavery in the U-S.

At one public library, South Bay reporter Kori Suzuki says a quieter celebration was also happening.

Breezie Bennett beams as she shows off a set of her paintings. Dancing with swirling patterns and bright colors. One of the pieces shows five figures, connected by dozens of winding threads. What it says is that we're all human. We come in all colors and all packages, shapes and sizes. But the one thing that we have in common is that we are connected by all the threads, the threads of communication, the threads of love, the threads of emotion, the threads that bind us. Bennett is here, at the Chula Vista Public Library in Otay Ranch, for a Juneteenth celebration of Black art. The event was put on by two newer arts organizations: Liberation Through Art and the San Diego Art Directory. Noelle Ocen-Odoge is a photographer and the founder and CEO of Liberation Through Art. She says it was an intentional decision to hold this event in Chula Vista. This area really advocates for art. And also, since it's predominantly Black and Brown, they advocate for Black and Brown artistry. And so being in a community that really values Black and Brown expression, and Black expression especially, is so important and vital to my community, feeling safe to be in these spaces. Organizers hope this Juneteenth celebration will highlight the importance of Black artistry. And will serve as a reminder of the presence and strength of the African diaspora in American life. Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

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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. I’m Emilyn Mohebbi. I’m going to be off the next couple of days, so some of my colleagues will be filling in for me. I’ll be back to hosting and producing the podcast again next week. Thanks for listening and have a great Tuesday.