San Diego County District Attorney asks lawmakers to create national database to track retail theft
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18TH>>>> [COULD A NATIONAL DATABASE HELP CUT BACK ON RETAIL THEFT?]More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
MULTIPLE ENTITIES JOINED FORCES TO OPEN 100-AFFORDABLE APARTMENT UNITS IN SAN YSIDRO
THE RESULT IS 'THE IRIS' ON DAIRY MART ROAD WHICH CELEBRATED ITS GRAND OPENING EARLIER THIS WEEK
THE APARTMENTS ARE GOING TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES OR INDIVIDUALS MAKING ANYWHERE FROM 25 TO 60 PERCENT OF THE AREA MEDIAN INCOME
THE PROJECT WAS CONSTRUCTED BY HOUSING DEVELOPER NATIONAL CORE
THE COUNTY INVESTED MILLIONS INTO THE PROJECT
AND THE SAN DIEGO HOUSING COMMISSION AWARDED VOUCHERS TO HELP PAY RENT FOR THOSE WITH EXTREMELY LOW INCOMES
THE IRIS IS ACROSS THE STREET FROM A TROLLEY STOP AND HOWARD LANE PARK
ALL UNITS AT THE IRIS ARE REQUIRED TO REMAIN AFFORDABLE FOR 55 YEARS
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NATIONAL CITY OFFICES WILL CLOSE FOR TWO WEEKS STARTING MONDAY
THIS INCLUDES REC CENTERS AND LIBRARIES...
DURING THIS TIME, WORKERS WILL GO UNPAID...
ITS ALL PART OF A FURLOUGH AGREEMENT WITH CITY EMPLOYEES
BUSINESS LICENSE FEES AND PARKING CITATIONS CAN STILL BE PAID ONLINE
OTHER PHYSICAL PAYMENTS MADE OUTSIDE THE MAIN FRONT DOORS OF CITY HALL WON'T BE PROCESSED UNTIL OFFICES OPEN AGAIN ON JANUARY 5TH
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THERE ARE THREATS TO SUSPEND TESLA'S LICENSE TO SELL E-V’S IN CALIFORNIA FOR 30 DAYS
THAT'S THE PUNISHMENT BEING RECOMMENDED TO CALIFORNIA'S DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
THIS COMES AFTER A JUDGE CONCLUDED THE COMPANY MISLED CONSUMERS ABOUT THE CAPABILITIES OF THEIR SELF DRIVING FEATURES ...
ADDING THAT TERMS "AUTOPILOT" AND "FULL SELF-DRIVING" WERE DECEPTIVE MARKETING TACTICS
TELSA NOW HAS A 90-DAY WINDOW TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS THAT MORE CLEARLY COMMUNICATE THE LIMITS OF THEIR SELF-DRIVING TECHNOLOGY TO AVOID HAVING THEIR SALES LICENSE SUSPENDED IN THE STATE
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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THE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS PROSECUTED HUNDREDS OF THE LOWEST PLAYERS IN LOCAL THEFT SCHEMES. BUT REPORTER KATIE HYSON SAYS THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE REMAIN OUT OF REACH.
RETAILTHEFT 1 s/s trt 1:12 SOQ (kh/mb)
San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan spoke before the House Judiciary committee Wednesday. She says her office has prosecuted more than 330 people for organized retail crime in the past few years. The thefts account for more than 3 million dollars in store losses.
SOT :03 But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
She says despite the resources they’ve put toward it –
SOT :13 We cannot get through as a County prosecutor to the level of the organized criminals that are pulling the strings and that are responsible for reselling the products.
Stephan asked the lawmakers to create a national database to track these crimes.
The scope and implications of organized retail crime is unclear.
There’s no standard definition or way of tracking it.
Still, it’s been used to justify recent tough on crime decisions.
Like the deployment of the National Guard to Memphis, a majority Black city.
And Proposition 36, enabling prosecutors to send many more San Diegans into already overcrowded jails.
Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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NEW STATE LEGISLATION IS AIMING TO SET STRICTER LIMITS ON EXPOSURE TO A TOXIC GAS CREATED BY SEWAGE.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS THE CHANGE COULD HELP COMMUNITIES NEAR THE TIJUANA RIVER.
PADILLA 1 trt: 1:03 soq
California’s current limit for hydrogen sulfide is designed for odor control.
It’s not an indicator of health risks. Research has shown communities near the polluted Tijuana River experience prolonged exposure to the toxic gas. They’ve reported symptoms like coughs, nausea and headaches.
Kim Prather is an atmospheric chemist at UC San Diego. She has led that research.
She says the state standard doesn’t inform the public what frequent spikes or chronic exposure mean for their health.
PADILLA 1 00:09
“I can't tell you how many emails and calls I get. Is the air safe to breathe? And I don't know how to answer that question.”
State Senator Steve Padilla is using Prather’s data to introduce Senate Bill 58. It would require the state to consider updating the hydrogen sulfide standard.
In a statement, Padilla says, quote, “the regulatory standard monitoring the very air our families breathe is so woefully out of date, leaving communities at risk.”
Padilla says the Senate will hear his proposal in January. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
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122 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK , THE ERA OF POWERED FLIGHT BEGAN WHEN ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT FLEW THE AIRPLANE THEY BUILT - FOR THE FIRST TIME.
REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS AN EVENT AT THE SAN DIEGO AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM TO HONOR THE ANNIVERSARY - DIDN’T GO QUITE AS PLANNED.
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WRIGHTBROS 1 :56 SOQ
RIGHT HERE AT THE TOP OF THIS STORY, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HEAR THE FIRING UP OF AN EXACT REPLICA OF THE ENGINE THAT POWERED THE WRIGHT FLYER. BUT THE ENGINE DECIDED NOT TO COOPERATE. THE AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM’S SUPERVISING MACHINIST ROBERT MCCLURE EXPLAINS WHAT WENT WRONG.
“And then we got enough fuel, and then we had no ignition and we couldn’t get… something got shorted out so we had no ignition to fire the fuel off.”
MCCLURE SAYS HE AND HIS TEAM WILL START WORKING ON REPAIRS RIGHT AWAY. MUSEUM PRESIDENT AND CEO JIM KIDRICK SAYS THE ENGINE ISSUE IS SOMETHING THE WRIGHT BROTHERS LIKELY FACED.
“It’s probably indicative of what they experienced many, many, many times before that first flight, realizing that first one was only 12 seconds and 120 feet.”
BOTH KIDRICK AND MCCLURE SAY THE ENGINE WILL RUN FOR NEXT YEAR’S COMMEMORATION OF THE FIRST POWERED FLIGHT. JC, KPBS NEWS.
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WITH JUST DAYS TO GO BEFORE CHRISTMAS … ELEMENTARY STUDENTS IN SAN DIEGO ARE FEELING THE HOLIDAY MAGIC.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS AT ONE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL … FREE GIFTS AND A SURPRISE GUEST … MADE SOME WISHES COME TRUE.
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CHOLLASTOYS 1 (ja) :57
Santa rode in on his sleigh to hear the wishlists of many young students as part of Chollas-Mead Elementary School's second annual Winter Holiday Toy Giveaway.
Over 600 students received a gift donation, selected by their teachers and wrapped by parent volunteers.
That includes 1st grader Ariana Perez-Mojica, who is feeling excited about the holidays
“Well you get to spend time with your family and you have gifts.”
Kristi Hunter-Clark is the school’s principal. She says nearly all of the student population lives below the poverty line.
“ So for our community and being able to give back and just give a little, it means a lot for our kids…”
Chollas-Mead Elementary partners with different community organizations to gather gifts for the students. San Diego Unified starts its two-week winter break after school gets out this Friday. JA KPBS News.
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MAXX MOSES IS AN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED MURALIST WHO BEGAN BY SPRAY PAINTING GRAFFITTI ILLEGALLY IN NEW YORK.
ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO VISITED HIS GRAFITTI GARDENS IN ENCANTO AND SAYS IT IS A HIDDEN GEM IN SAN DIEGO’S BLACK ARTS AND CULTURE DISTRICT
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You can’t see Graffiti Gardens from the street. And even when you enter the outdoor space, the scale and beauty won’t hit you till you turn around and look back at the long stretch of cinder block walls – walls that Maxx Moses immediately tried to rent.
[00:01:19.10] - MAXX MOSES …It was during COVID and I'm a painter… I love to paint big. And I was going to people and ask them, Can I paint their wall?... And I was like, Oh, I'm so tired of asking people, Can I paint their wall? I need my own place to just paint. And so my mentor told me about this place, and I came in, and the landlord or the owner of the property showed me this location. I was like, Whoa, this is awesome. She was showing me the inside, and I was like, No, I don't want to rent that spot. I just want to rent the walls.
Walls where his bold colors can explode and his dynamic curves won’t feel constrained. But finding such large canvases is a challenge so the art that grows and blossoms on the walls at Graffiti Gardens is ever changing.
[00:02:28.02] - MAXX MOSES …In fact, the walls that are behind me are in process now of changing. And we do events where we invite artists from other parts of the city or other cities to just change and transform the place all at one time.
Accepting the impermanence of his art may come from his early roots tagging as a kid in New York.
[00:02:28.02] - MAXX MOSES …Coming from the whole graffiti movement. You're out in the street and you're painting, and then you know how you have people that may not like you so much, and then they go over what you do. So it could be a battle… Once it's out in the street, it doesn't belong to you anymore. And it's just a release.
And Moses can always create more, and through Graffiti Gardens he can provide space for other artists too.
[00:00:00.00] - MAXX MOSES Graffiti Gardens is this sanctuary of art for artists and art lovers and just beautiful human beings that want to be inspired.
In addition to the outdoor space, Moses has a studio and now works with the charter school that shares the building with him. Next month he will also host a two-day workshop.
[00:10:57.00] - MAXX MOSES It’s called Graffiti and Beyond, which is teaching you the basic forms of graffiti as an art form and how it's grown in the culture that it comes from, but then also mural making, because it's important. How do you scale up a drawing and take it to the next level? And there's so much more technology and stuff available now. So we just want to teach some courses and offer those opportunities for young people.
Opportunities that he did not have as a young kid looking for identity and connection, and finding it in writing on trains.
[00:12:32.12] - MAXX MOSES Listen, I'm from New York, and I started in the '70s. Trust me, It was hated with venom. Like with venom.
So you had to paint fast before you got caught.
[00:12:32.12] - MAXX MOSES …I paint with a lot of young cats now. I'm like, Man, you guys been here for days and days and days. And like, Bro, we didn't have that luxury. We're like, Bro, boom, boom, boom. Because there's this sense of urgency.
Moses is still driven by a sense of urgency to create so it was difficult when Graffiti Gardens was flooded in January 2024 during the heavy storms and had to close for months.
[00:16:00:00] MAXX MOSES I guess after the flood, it's biblical, right? It's almost like a cleansing of like, what's going to take place next? We're resilient. I think I personally have a lot of resilience in my being. Being an entrepreneur, you have to just have that and be able to face the trials and tribulations and move forward and not be stymied by any of those unforeseen occurrences. And that's what makes us stronger, makes us more assertive and strong and beautiful, all of that stuff.
You can find the hidden gem of Graffiti Gardens at 6785 Imperial Avenue right at the edge of the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News
TAG: GRAFFITI GARDENS IS LOCATED IN ENCANTO AND THE GRAFFITI AND BEYOND WORKSHOP TAKES PLACE JAN. 10TH AND 11TH.
MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON EVENTBRITE
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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. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I thank you for that. Have a great day!
