San Diego college students join walkout for Palestine

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, October 26th.

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College students in the county join a national walkout in support of Palestinian people. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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More than one in 10 San Diegans live under the federal poverty line.

That’s less than 30-thousand-dollars a year for a family of four, in one of the most expensive cities in the U-S, says economist Daniel Enemark.

“Could you imagine trying to make ends meet on $30,000 a year in San Diego County? But 335,000 San Diego County residents live in exactly that circumstance.” 

That number includes enough children to fill Petco Park, twice.

Enemark worked with the San Diego Foundation, which issued the new report.

They recommend investing in immigrants as a way to boost employment and wages for all San Diegans.

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A new welcome center for immigrants will soon be coming to North County.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, this week, voted unanimously to accept a more than 430-thousand-dollar grant that will be used to build it.

The new center is meant to help build on existing refugee programs and assistance for all community members, regardless of immigration status.

There’s currently a county immigrant center in National City.

San Diego County has the third-largest number of refugee arrivals in the state, behind only Sacramento and L-A.

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The city of Chula Vista now has more than 430 smart parking meters.

That means you don’t have to carry around change with you to park on the streets.

The meters still accept coins, but now also accept credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and the new I-P-S Park Smarter app.

The app can also help you find available parking spaces, and sends you alerts when your meter is going to expire, so you can add more time directly from your phone.

The smart meters are located along many of the streets of Chula Vista’s Downtown Parking District.

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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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College students in the county are showing their support for the Palestinian people caught in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Education reporter M.G. Perez says they joined a national walkout yesterday.

“Free free Palestine…free Palestine” Students and staff at San Diego City College were some of those who  protested  the ongoing violence in Gaza…and called  for a cease-fire in the middle east war. Some of them with loved ones stranded or killed in the conflict. They’ve  found allies in their Hispanic classmates…like Julio Cedillo…“we feel that we have a solidarity with the Palestinian people…lives being dictated…with border walls…colonialism and oppression…we know how it feels.” At the midday rally at San Diego State…A small number of Israeli students came to campus to be seen …if not heard. They declined to be interviewed to protect their personal safety. MGP KPBS News.

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A controversial class of navy ships could soon be outfitted with army missile launchers.

Military reporter Andrew Dyer says it’s already been done with the U-S-S Savannah.

The san diego-based littoral combat ship test-fired an sm-6 missile off the california coast this week. they used  a containerized launcher originally developed for use on land. the two versions of the littoral combat ship have been plagued with mechanical and development setbacks. the  catamaran-style version, many of which are based in san diego, began deploying with another missile system in 2019. a naval surface force spokesperson in san diego says the new system would expand the combat capability of the lcs. the ships were sold to the navy originally as plug-and-play platforms. they were supposed to be able to be outfitted with anti-submarine, anti-mine or surface combat packages capabilities that were never fully realized. the service has retired some of the earliest ships in the class,, some of which were just in service a handful of years. soq.

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A new CDC report says health care workers are facing a mental health crisis, with increased reports of burnout and harassment at work.

Health reporter Matt Hoffman has more.

The CDC report says the number of health care workers reporting harassment at work doubled from 2018 to 2022.. And nearly half of those surveyed say they’re often burned out.. Nikki Avey is Kaiser nurse and an officer in their union representing 2800 San Diego nurses.. She says the pandemic has had a lasting impact. Avey I’ve heard nurses, ive seen nurses, leave the bedside and the frontlines and want to go somewhere else just because it was just too much -- they’re anxiety was up or their depression was really hitting them hard. And the burnout is real -- it’s real The CDC report says positive working conditions like trust in management and help from supervisors were associated with less burnout and fewer odds of poor mental health. UCSD Health and other local systems have programs aimed at helping staff with stress or mental health concerns.. Scripps Health says they have a robust in-house employee assistance program and 24/7 peer support specialists. Sharp Healthcare rolled out a peer support model in 2021 which includes regular check-ins and referrals to other care if necessary. MH KPBS News.

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Coming up.... Our KPBS South Bay Engagement Producer joins me to talk about how to create an ofrenda for Día de Muertos.

“The ofrenda not only offers a way to celebrate the dead. It’s also an opportunity to honor, remember and welcome back loved ones who are no longer here.”

We’ll have that and more, just after the break.

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After just two seasons, former San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin is headed back to the bay area.

Yesterday, melvin was introduced as the San Francisco Giants 40th manager in franchise history.

Melvin said that he really enjoyed his time with the Padres, but felt it was time to move on.

This will be the fourth full-time managerial hire for Padres general manager A.J. Preller in his 10 seasons with the club.

He says there is already a lot of interest in the job.

“We’ve had some very interesting names and some people that are very accomplished that have expressed interest in this job. It’s a testament to this team, our roster, the talent that’s here. The fact that we’ve gone to the playoffs a couple times in the last few years and our city. We’ve got amazing fans that support this team.”          

The search for the next Padres manager begins immediately.

Preller says the organization will sit down with some internal candidates over the next few days.

He noted there is no set time frame for the hire, but mentioned this is the first big decision that needs to be made this off season, and he wants to do it right.

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Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead, starts next week.

At the heart of this Mexican tradition is creating an ofrenda or an altar for loved ones who’ve passed away. South Bay Engagement Producer, Marielena Castellanos joins us with more on how altars are made. Marielena, welcome to the San Diego News Now podcast.

Day of the Dead is a tradition that started in Mexico where the departed are celebrated often with ofrendas or altars. For someone who is not familiar, could you explain what an ofrenda is?

So, if our listeners want to make an ofrenda, when should they start?

What are some of the things that go on an altar?

And are there any rules they should know about?

This year KPBS is hosting a digital community ofrenda. Could you tell us about it?

TAG: Marielena, thank you for all this info. and for joining me on the San Diego News Now podcast. I hope you have a great day!

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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 to wrap up the week with the day’s top stories, plus, we’ll have details on some weekend arts events happening in the county. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.