San Diego congressional candidate broke Pentagon rules in his campaign
Good Morning, I’m Katie Hyson in for Lawrence Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, APRIL 24TH.>>>> A San Diego congressional candidate violated Pentagon rules
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement this week with the Mexican Consulate to increase legal defense services for Mexican nationals and improve access to “Know Your Rights” information.
Legal services would include post-detention interventions like bond assistance, habeus corpus petitions and legal orders. Tools the supporting supervisors say can prevent prolonged detention and ensure fair legal outcomes.
Through the agreement, the Mexican Consulate would invest in the County’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program and deliver Know Your Rights materials to County facilities.
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The California Attorney General’s Office has given the San Diego Police Officers’ Association special permission to sue the City of San Diego and its city council.
The dispute centers on pension benefits for police recruits.
The police union argues that the City made invalid changes to pension plans for recruits who entered the Police Academy between July 1st 20-13 and September 9th 20-24. It aims to undo those changes.
According to the opinion issued by the Attorney General, the city says it would cost at least 6-million dollars.
This comes as the City faces a 118 million dollar budget deficit.
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We could be in for a rainy weekend, so take your umbrella with you when you leave the house this weekend.
The National Weather Service is predicting off-and-on showers all day Saturday and Sunday morning.
Strong westerly winds are also expected this weekend over the county’s mountain and desert areas.
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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A SAN DIEGO CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE VIOLATED PENTAGON RULES ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS. THAT’S ACCORDING TO AN EMAIL THE NAVY RESERVE INSPECTOR GENERAL SENT THIS WEEK. MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER SAYS THE I - G FOUND VIOLATIONS ON THE CAMPAIGN WEB SITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA.
An email obtained by KPBS from the inspector general said lieutenant-junior-grade Ammar Campa-Najjar fixed portions of his website that ran afoul of regulations after his chain of command intervened.
The IG email was addressed to a local man who filed a complaint.
Pentagon regulations allow reservists like Campa-Najjar to run for office but restrict how they use their military title and uniformed photos.
Until late last month, campa-najjar’s campaign website repeatedly referred to him as a "Navy Officer" and omitted his status in the Navy Reserve. It also prominently featured photos of him in uniform.
The inspector general also found further violations on Campa-Najjar’s campaign Facebook page. The I-G said they forwarded those issues to the Navy Reserve Wednesday before closing the complaint.
Campa-Najjar says he just wants to get things right and — as of Thursday afternoon — hasn’t heard anything further from the Navy Reserve.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News
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IT’S NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK...A CHANCE TO CELEBRATE THE PLACES THAT OFFER MORE THAN JUST BOOKS. REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS BRINGS US THIS AUDIO POSTCARD FROM THE LOGAN HEIGHTS BRANCH…WHERE A LIBRARY ASSISTANT IS RETIRING AFTER NEARLY 40 YEARS.
A lot of people say libraries are obsolete. Who checks out books anymore? It's not just. It's not just about the books. You know, it's it's it's it's a community hub.
My name is Alina Rosas. I have been working at the San Diego Public Library Logan Heights branch since 1988.
There’s just so much, so much that the library does for the community. We have educational programs for all ages.
How to get a bank account, how to get an ID. How to fix your car.
We have the hotspots that we loan out.
There's people that say, you know, I can't get anything done at home. I need to study here.
It's everything. This place is everything.
I love the community room.
We've had magicians, storytellers, science programs, animal shows. We've had graduations in there. Baby showers. My 50th birthday party was there. It was a surprise.
The piano was donated by one of the friends of the library, and with the stipulation that it be available to the community when they wanted to use it.
Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to miss this.
ALINA ROSAS RETIRES FROM THE LOGAN HEIGHTS LIBRARY IN AUGUST.
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CONCERT TICKET PRICES HAVE SKYROCKETED SINCE THE PANDEMIC, AND VENUES AND ARTISTS SAY BOOKING AGENTS AND TICKETING PLATFORMS CALL THE SHOTS — EVEN AS LIVE NATION AND TICKETMASTER FACE ANTITRUST SUITS.
FOR OUR PRICE OF SAN DIEGO SERIES, ARTS REPORTER JULIA DIXON EVANS LOOKS AT THE COST OF SEEING A BAND — AND WHAT FANS CAN DO ABOUT IT.
On a busy corner near the airport, sits a small independent music venue, a legend in rock and punk circles.
"My name is Tim Mays, and we're at the Casbah, which I've owned for 37 years now."
In recent years, concert price increases have meant that fans can pay hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars, for one show.
While prices at small venues haven't hit those levels, Mays says they're still feeling the pinch.
At the Casbah, pre-pandemic, smaller touring bands typically charged 12 to 15 dollars at the door.
"After the pandemic, that bumped up to 15,18 and then now, you know, starting point for a band that relatively unknown, I see, you know, three asks for $20 tickets, $25 tickets at the door."
There's a lot that goes into the cost of a ticket — including a band payment to cover tour costs. Basically all the people, platforms and expenses involved.
And Mays says booking agents and managers usually have final say.
"I push back when I can, just saying, 'It seems a little high. Has this band played in San Diego before? Do they have any history?' Because if not, if it's their first time, we should be cognizant of the pricing."
Colleen Kollar Smith is executive director of UC San Diego's Campus Performance and Events Office, which oversees ArtPower. She says access to art is part of their mission and they work to keep events affordable.
"when we're looking on campus at our students who are quite literally in laboratories and studios working on problems not just of today but well into the future and working to change the world, we think it's really important that they have art in their lives, so they're really whole humans"
ArtPower has historically offered low-cost tickets to students. Recently, they made those completely free.
"When we took that ticket price off, we saw 65% increase right away. So, we know that removing that barrier really does impact the engagement."
Kollar Smith says another cost factor for fans is the rise of resale sites.
"Oftentimes, when you're googling an artist, the first thing that pops up is those resale sites"
Resellers often buy tickets and resell them at a markup, adding costs for fans.
"If you dig just a little bit, find out the venue or the presenter and just take that extra second to go directly to that site, oftentimes you're going to find a less expensive ticket. And certainly you know your ticket's going to be good for that show"
Platform costs like fees and surge pricing have also risen. Ticketmaster and Live Nation — which merged in 2009 — are facing a federal antitrust lawsuit.
Mays says the Casbah and other smaller venues use independent ticketing platforms, often with lower fees. But many large venues still require Ticketmaster as their exclusive ticketing platform.
Fans aren't the only ones — Mays says artists are also feeling inflation.
"So it's gotten to … way expensive to tour. You know, hotels, gasoline, food, everything is way more expensive than it was … way more expensive than it was last year So you know, it's a constant struggle to keep the ticket pricing in check"
He says merch is a key way for fans to support artists.
"We'll have bands here that some nights just do almost as much selling merch because they get paid."
And there's one more thing fans can control: to avoid platform service fees, check with the venue - you might be able to pay cash at the door.
Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS news##########
IF A CONCERT ISN’T IN YOUR BUDGET, YOU CAN HEAD OUTSIDE WITH YOUR PHONE FOR A NATURE CHALLENGE THIS WEEKEND. BUT REMEMBER, BRING YOUR UMBRELLA.
THE WORLDWIDE CITY NATURE CHALLENGE PITS REGIONS AGAINST EACH OTHER IN A SHARED EFFORT TO DOCUMENT THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS AROUND US. COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAN UPLOAD PHOTOS OF PLANTS AND WILDLIFE TO THE I-NATURALIST APP. SAN DIEGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BOTANIST JON REBMAN SAYS THESE CONTRIBUTIONS GREATLY EXPAND SCIENTISTS' DATA.
That really changes our knowledge of what is where. It's crazy amount of data. So that's why I do it, so that we better understand that diversity — where it is, and we can use that to better protect the species there."
TO PARTICIPATE THIS WEEKEND, JOIN A GUIDED "BIOBLITZ" AND UPLOAD YOUR OWN PHOTOS TO THE SAN DIEGO CITY NATURE CHALLENGE PROJECT ON I-NATURALIST.
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THE PAC-ARTS’ SPRING SHOWCASE IS ALSO THIS WEEKEND. CINEMA JUNKIE BETH ACCOMANDO SAYS TO PREPARE FOR AN INTENSE THREE-DAY WEEKEND OF ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN CINEMA.
Pac-Arts’ Spring Showcase kicks off tonight with a beautiful and deeply affecting documentary from San Diego-based filmmaker Benito Bautista, who’s also the founder of San Diego Filipino Cinema. The Road to Sydney is both a personal journey for Bautista and a portrait of dance artist Sydney Loyola who faced discrimination after gender affirmation surgery.
The film celebrates the journeys of both Loyola and Bautista. In addition to shining a light on trans rights, Spring Showcase also hopes to encourage empathy with Bashu, the Little Stranger, a landmark Iranian film that explores themes of war, displacement, and identity. It reflects the festival’s commitment to showing not just new works but also bringing classics back to the big screen.
The Closing Night feature is also a documentary, Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon, about the composer whose music shaped early 70s Saigon.
Spring Showcase only runs three days but it’s packed with a seductive array of films reflecting the rich and complex diversity of Asian and Asian American cinema.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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IF A NATURE CHALLENGE OR FILM FESTIVAL ISN’T FOR YOU WE HAVE A FEW MORE IDEAS FOR YOUR WEEKEND.
THE SAN DIEGO BOOK CRAWL IS BACK FOR ITS 9TH YEAR. 15 INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES ARE PARTICIPATING. THE MORE STORES YOU VISIT, THE MORE PRIZES YOU CAN EARN. YOU CAN FIND A LIST OF PARTICIPATING STORES ON SD-BOOK-CRAWL-DOT-COM.
IF YOU’D RATHER BE OUT IN THE SUNSHINE, THE USA PICKLEBALL’S GOLDEN TICKET TOURNAMENT CONTINUES AT THE BARNES TENNIS CENTER ON POINT LOMA BOULEVARD. THAT’S THE QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR COMPETING BUT SPECTATORS ARE WELCOME.
OR, IF YOU’RE FEELING ARTSY – LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE’S 20-26 WOW FESTIVAL CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY ON THE UC SAN DIEGO CAMPUS. IT INVOLVES INTERACTIVE ART EXPERIENCES AND HAS A MIX OF FREE AND PAID EVENTS. YOU CAN CHECK OUT A PREVIEW OF THE FESTIVAL BY OUR VERY OWN BETH ACCOMANDO ON K-P-B-S-DOT-ORG.
WHATEVER YOU DO DECIDE TO DO THIS WEEKEND, ENJOY!
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth and was hosted and produced by me, Katie Hyson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
