Ranch helps reconnect military families
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, February 24th.
A local ranch is helping military families reconnect. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria provided an update on the state of the city’s streets yesterday.
He said crews have filled 17 thousand potholes since the heavy rains in January and early February – and have 550 potholes to go.
He also said that on March 1st crews will start repaving portions of roads.
The city will update its street condition assessment, which hasn’t been updated since 20-16.
“They will begin collecting fresh data on all 2,800 miles of roads of city streets beginning on March 1st and complete their work sometime this fall. The results from this survey will give us updated and accurate picture of the state of our city streets and help us refine a long term pavement management plan.”
You can report any street concerns on San Diego’s Get-It-Done app.
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The chief of the Oceanside Police Department is retiring after more than 30 years of service.
Chief Fred Armijo grew up in Oceanside and has worked for the city since 19-89.
He’s been a lifeguard, police recruit, sworn police officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and chief.
The recruitment for his replacement is currently open, and expected to close on March 7th.
Chief Armijo’s last day will be April first.
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Calling all Padres fans!!M-L-B spring training games start today in Arizona.
The Padres will be going up against the Seattle Mariners, in their first game.
The Padres will play more than 30 games in Arizona, before the regular season starts at the end of March at Petco Park.
Today’s game starts at 12-10 P-M and you can watch it on Bally Sports San Diego.
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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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There are lots of ranches in San Diego County, but one ranch - less than an hour east of the city, is unique.
It’s open to the public, but it’s geared toward military families.
Reporter John Carroll tells us how time spent there can restore, and change lives.
Situated in Pine Valley, surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest, the Horse of the Sun Ranch sits in its own little valley. We visited on a windy day last week. We met Ken Callaway, who runs the place. “There are a lot of pressures on military families that the general population doesn’t understand.” Callaway works for the Armed Services YMCA. About three years ago, the ranch’s previous owner donated it to the Armed Services Y… As a vet himself, Callaway understands the unique challenges faced by military families. “High unemployment, high spousal unemployment, high child care costs We bring them to the ranch and let them, especially pre and post-deployment, connect as a family and they can come up here and Mom and Dad can enjoy barbecue and the kids can run and scream and they get to play with the horses, kids get to ride.” There is so much to do on this ranch… “Families can come and spend five or six hours here - enjoy pony rides for the kids, they can do archery, they can do laser tag, arts and crafts, hiking…” Or just some quiet time… the hiking part comes in here…. A creek runs along one side of the property. But there is one activity here that happens - inside. “Welcome to the craft shop here at the ranch.. Leather craft is part of the horse life, part of the ranch life.” Here, kids not only learn about leather crafting, they get to create their own works of leather art. “A kid or adult can make a nice little bracelet, something they can keep forever.” Everything here is designed to take visitor’s minds off of their day to day lives… to forge new bonds, to de-stress. “With a military lifestyle, there’s obviously a lot of uncertainty for the children and the families. We tend to move around a lot.” This is Commander Peter Birch. We were there when he, along with his wife and three girls rolled up in a black SUV… and you might have noticed an accent… Commander Birch is a helicopter pilot with the Royal Navy. “I’m out here working for Naval Air Forces with the U.S. Navy.” Like with any other military family, he says the time spent here means a lot. Peter Birch/Commander, Royal Navy “To come out to a place like this, be surrounded by nature, also playing with the horses as well - it’s fantastic, it’s a really good grounding experience for the children.” A perfect place to make memories… and that brings us to the first military family to visit the Horse of the Sun Ranch about six years ago. We spoke to Katie May and her 8-year old daughter Sam on Zoom. “I remember times in my lifetime when I was really little and I couldn’t wait to move back to California to see Little Moon again.” Little Moon is one of the resident horses here. He’s a gentle, sweet animal that has lots of patience around humans. Sam first met him as a toddler and she says she doesn’t really remember that first meeting, but a few years later, the family visited the ranch again. Turns out Little Moon remembered Sam and was very happy to see her. Katie described the moment. Katie May Sam May’s Mom “When you started grooming him, he hugged you, like turned inside and hugged you.” A horse hug, as Katie explained, is when a horse puts his neck and head around you. Sam May Little Moon’s friend “I love him because he’s super sweet. He’s the calmest and nicest horse I have ever met in my lifetime.” There are lots of things to say about the Horse of the Sun Ranch, but stories like Sam’s really sum it up. As the sign out front says, a place where horses and nature lift the human spirit - and one might add a place where memories are made that last a lifetime. JC, KPBS News.
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Just two days after police announced a large human trafficking sting in National City, local leaders are calling for the repeal of a state law that eliminated many criminal penalties for prostitution.
Reporter Jacob Aere has the story.
Mayors, police and anti-human trafficking advocates came together in San Diego Thursday morning with one goal in mind – repealing Senate Bill 357, which decriminalizes loitering for the intent to sell sex. The Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition’s Marisa Ugarte worries the bill could lead to more people being trapped in sex work or sex trafficking. “Slavery is not work. Enslaving a child that can not consent is a travesty of justice. A woman that is enslaved because of economic violence or gender inequality is slavery.” But attorney Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi (PUH-ree-suh EE-jud-ee MAG-soo-dee) says she wants to see data that the law is causing an increase in sex trafficking … because it’s intended to help people report exploitation and protect women, people of color and the LGBTQ community from harassment by authorities. JA KPBS News.
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Today is the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The eve of the anniversary was marked in San Diego with a somber ceremony… and the ringing of a special bell that stands for freedom.
Reporter Kitty Alvarado was there.
Ukrainian anthem The Ukrainian anthem echoed in the square of San Diego’s Air and Space Museum for a ceremony on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The House of Ukraine, The Air and Space Museum and the Spirit of Liberty Foundation organized the event. But America’s Freedom Bell was the guest of honor … forged with steel from the Twin Towers that fell on 9-11. The bell was rung once for each day the Ukrainian people have repelled the Russian forces. Mother and daughter Oksana and Nina Piggdugna have only been here 2 years for them freedom cant come soon enough Because most of our relatives and my uncles are in the war right now and some of my friends and they are the front lines We are ready to die but we want to live Kitty Alvarado KPBS News.
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Coming up.... Some weekend plan suggestions, from us to you. We’ll have that and more, just after the break.
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Some rural school districts have snow days built into their calendars for days like yesterday.
Reporter Tania Thorne joined sixth grade students in Descanso, and tells us how their day went.
Snow, snow, and more snow. Students who went off to their sixth grade camp at Cuyamaca Outdoor School got a snowy surprise thanks to the recent storm hitting San Diego. “This week was especially special because it snowed. Woo hoo. Kris Pamintuan is the principal and says snow days like this aren't very common. Weve had a couple of small snow storms this year but nothing like this. Last snow like this was a couple of years ago so this is really special. She says special experiences like these are what make the outdoor school special. TT KPBS News.
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It’s Friday… and we’ve got details on some arts events happening this weekend across the county… courtesy of Arts editor Julia Dixon Evans.
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The San Diego Symphony has two concerts this weekend.
The symphony will perform works by Beethoven and Stravinsky.
We’re listening to Stravinsky’s “Symphonies of Wind Instruments”.
The concerts are at eight tonight and tomorrow, at the Civic Theatre in downtown.
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And if you’d like to check out some visual art, Quint Gallery in La Jolla will be showcasing some new paintings.
The new works on display are by returning artist, Kelsey Brookes. The exhibition is called “Cosmic Symmetries.”
It showcases Brookes’ scientific, mathematical and psychedelic paintings.
The art display opens tomorrow at 6 P-M, and runs through April 8th.
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For more info. on these events and others, visit kpbs-dot-org-slash-arts.
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth and Producer Emilyn Mohebbi. We’d like to thank KPBS editor Joe Guerin for helping out the podcast team this week. 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 weekend.
