Rental assistance ending, evictions returning
Good Morning, I’m Matt Hoffman….it’s Wednesday March 23rd>>>>
Rental assistance is ending and evictions are expectedMore on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
The percentage of COVID-19 tests that returned positive in the past week increased to 3.2%, according to data released yesterday. that’s up from the 2.7% reported the previous week. The county reports that data on Tuesdays and Fridays. An average of 13,070 daily tests were reported in the past week. COVID related hospitalizations are decreasing. As of yesterday there were 185 people hospitalized, during the recent omicron spike it was over 12-00 San Diegans.
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A SAN DIEGO APPELLATE JUSTICE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO SERVE ON THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT. IT MAKES HER THE FIRST LATINA TO SERVE ON THE STATE'S HIGHEST COURT. PATRICIA GUERRERO'S APPOINTMENT WAS APPROVED THROUGH A UNANIMOUS VOTE BY THE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS. SHE IS AN IMPERIAL VALLEY NATIVE WHO HAS SERVED AT THE FOURTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS IN SAN DIEGO SINCE 2017.
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAS A NEW SHERIFF. YESTERDAY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS UNANIMOUSLY SELECTED CURRENT ASSISTANT SHERIFF ANTHONY RAY, WHO OVERSEES THE DEPARTMENTS COURTS AND HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION
RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATES WHO TESTIFIED TO THE BOARD SAID NONE OF THE CANDIDATES WERE ACCEPTABLE. AFTER A SCATHING AUDIT OF JAILS RUN BY THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, MANY OF THEM SAID STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA SHOULD STEP IN AND RUN THE DEPARTMENT UNTIL A NEW SHERIFF IS ELECTED THIS FALL. SHERIFF ANTHONY RAY WILL BEGIN HIS NEW JOB IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. #########
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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Starting next month, LANDLORDS WILL BE ABLE TO FILE EVICTION NOTICES FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT PAID RENT DUE TO HARDSHIPS FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
KPBS SPEAK CITY HEIGHTS REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS TENANTS’ RIGHTS GROUPS CLAIM ONLY A FRACTION OF RENT RELIEF APPLICANTS HAVE RECEIVED ASSISTANCE.
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EVICTIONS 1 (:49)
California's Emergency Rental Assistance is set to expire on March 31st and rental advocates across the state are calling for an extension on the program in order to prevent evictions.
Ramon Toscano is an ACCE San Diego member who rents a two-bedroom apartment in Vista with his wife and six kids.
“Mi esposa y yo pues … viviríamos, me entiendes, al carro. Pero no vas a meter a seis niños en un carro, no. Si es preocuparse no, porque cada día que pasa es más cerca a la fecha.”
A recent study found that roughly two-thirds of applicants to the state’s rent relief program are still waiting for assistance.
The Housing NOW! California coalition is calling on state leaders to extend the application period and tenant coverage for rental assistance through the end of August. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
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JUST UNDER 800 CITY OF SAN DIEGO EMPLOYEES ARE FINDING OUT THIS WEEK THAT THEY’RE CORONAVIRUS VACCINE EXEMPTIONS WERE APPROVED. SOME EXEMPTION REQUESTS ARE STILL UNDER REVIEW. JESSE CONNER IS PRESIDENT OF THE SAN DIEGO CITY FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION.. HE SAYS DURING NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT THE VACCINE MANDATE THE CITY TOLD THEM EXEMPTIONS WOULD BE ALLOWED. BUT DETAILS WEREN’T CLEAR AND THAT PUT SOME EMPLOYEES IN TOUGH SPOTS. HE SAYS NEWS ABOUT THE EXEMPTIONS IS A RELIEF.
CITYVAXES 2A (:20)
RELIEF FOR A LOT OF THOSE FOLKS WHO THOUGHT THAT THEY MIGHT BE OUT OF A JOB. BECAUSE WHEN YOU’RE A FIREFIGHTER FOR 15 YEARS AND HAVE A FAMILY RELYING ON YOU AND BILLS AND THEN YOU’RE FACED WITH THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU’LL LOSE YOUR CAREER, THAT’S VERY STRESSFUL
THOSE WITH MEDICAL OR RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS ARE REQUIRED TO TEST ONCE A WEEK FOR THE VIRUS.90 percent of the city’s employees are vaccinated. But, some city employees have left because of the mandate and there are at least 30 facing termination for noncompliance.
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SAN DIEGO IS CONTINUING ITS PUSH TO BUILD MORE PROTECTED BIKE LANES. KPBS METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS PARK BOULEVARD IN UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS IS NEXT ON THE LIST.
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BOULEVARD 1 (ab) 0:47 soq
AB: Crews are in the process of resurfacing a one-mile section of Park Boulevard. When they're finished, cyclists will have new bike lanes with physical barriers protecting them from motorists. Right now, they have to share a lane with cars. Ariana Criste is a cyclist who lives a short bike ride away. She says when she bikes to Hillcrest or downtown, she avoids Park Boulevard.
AC: It always feels like you might get doored, or you have to dodge cars that are coming in and out of getting takeout and visiting shops. So I think this is really going to go a long way towards improving the safety of biking in the neighborhood.
AB: For now, the plan is to add bike lanes from Adams to University Avenue, though the city is analyzing extending them south into Balboa Park. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE DEBUTED THE FIRST ADVANCED WATER PURIFICATION FACILITY IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY ON TUESDAY. KPBS NORTH COUNTY REPORTER TANIA THORNE TELLS US ABOUT ITS EXPECTED IMPACT.
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PUREWATER 1 (0:42) SOQ
Water that was once imported from hundreds of miles away will now be supplied locally.
Pure Water Oceanside is the first facility of its kind to go online in San Diego County.
It uses advanced technology to turn recycled water into locally sourced clean and safe drinking water.
“Pure water oceanside will provide more than 20% of the city’s drinking water supply or 3 million gallons per day.”
Oceanside mayor Esther Sanchez said the $70 million project also created 600 new jobs.
And she's excited that the Oceanside facility is a model other cities in the County are following.
TT KPBS News
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Coming up.... More seniors are seeking meal assistance
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More than 14 million meals have been served to tens of thousands of San Diego's most vulnerable seniors.
That's the milestone being celebrated this week by Serving Seniors, on the 50th anniversary of the Older Americans Act.
The organization relies on the act for funding, and was one of the original grant recipients.
Serving Seniors' CEO Paul Downey says over the last two year the organization has more than doubled the number of meals it provides.. to about one-and-a-half million meals this year:
17;00;15;03 If there is anything good that has come out of the pandemic it's the fact that many seniors realize how important these meals are for their health and well being. The idea is that these meals keep them healthy, which keeps them at home where they want to be, it keeps them out of the emergency room, out of hospitals and out of long term care. Nobody aspires to live out their days in a skilled nursing facility
Serving Seniors provides meals to low-income older adults throughout San Diego County 365 days a year either by delivery or at one of its dining sites.
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Author Stephen Michael Shear--er will be at D.G. Wills’ Bookstore in La Jolla to discuss his new book – Glamour and Style: The Beauty of Hedy Lamarr on March 31. This is a coffee table companion book to his biography of the Classic Hollywood star. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando speaks with the author.
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HEDYBOOK 1 (ba)
In the 1938 film Algiers, Hedy Lamarr made her Hollywood film debut. She
entered an alley and walked up to the camera with bullets flying. She needed
no words to dazzle audiences with her striking, flawless beauty.
CLIP Algiers “You call this nothing...”
Author Stephen Michael Shearer wrote Lamarr’s biography in 2010 and now
he’s created a visual companion called Glamour and Style: The Beauty of
Hedy Lamarr. The book celebrates her gorgeous appearance in a multitude
of photos, but also looks beyond the image.
STEPHEN MICHAEL SHEARER The fact that she had an intelligent mind, an
active, creative mind, brilliant mind, she was stifled throughout those
decades because she was a woman. And not only was she a woman, but she
was a beautiful woman. And beauty is hard to juggle and compromise even
today and how stifling and how frustrating that had to have been for her
during that era not to be heard. Of all the film stars, Heddy Lamar has left us
a double legacy, not only a canon of film work, but also perhaps one of the
most important scientific inventions of the 20th century. (:43)
That invention was a “frequency hopping, spread-spectrum communication
system” designed to make radio-guided torpedoes more effective. To honor
Lamarr, International Inventor's Day occurs on November 9 her birthday.
Shearer’ book celebrates Lamarr’s dual legacy of brains and beauty.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. You can always find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org.. KPBS radio and our website is where you can find live coverage of the supreme court nomination hearings this week. Thanks for listening, have a great Wednesday and we’ll catch you tomorrow.
