SDG&E customers show up in full force to oppose a proposed rate hike
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson … it’s THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12TH>>>>> [ ROUGHLY ONE HUNDRED SDG&E CUSTOMERS THAT SHOWED UP TO A PUBLIC HEARING DID SO TO OPPOSE A POTENTIAL RATE HIKE ]More on that next. But first... the headlines ...#######
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S LUSK CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE IS PROJECTING SAN DIEGO'S AVERAGE RENT WILL REACH 27-HUNDRED DOLLARS IN THREE YEARS
ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, THAT’S STILL ABOUT SEVEN PERCENT MORE AFFORDABLE THAN OUR NEIGHBORS IN ORANGE COUNTY’S AVERAGE RENT
THE REPORT LINKS INCREASED DENSITY TO THE COUNTY’S ABILITY TO ADDRESS GROWING HOUSING DEMAND ADDING ALSO THAT SINCE LATE 20-23, SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAS ADDED ROUGHLY SIXTEEN THOUSAND APARTMENTS
THE REPORT FINDS ELEVATED INTEREST RATES, HIGH CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND PERSISTENT INFLATION AS KEY OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME
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FORMER SAN DIEGO CITY ATTORNEY MARA ELLIOT IS DECLARING VICTORY OVER KRISTIE [KRISS-TEE] BRUCE-LANE IN THE RACE FOR CALIFORNIA SENATE DISTRICT FORTY
DISTRICT FORTY COVERS A WIDE PORTION OF NORTH COUNTY AND EAST COUNTY AS WELL AS SEVERAL PARTS OF NORTHERN SAN DIEGO NEIGHBORHOODS.
THERE ARE STILL BALLOTS LEFT TO BE COUNTED BUT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS ALSO CALLED THIS RACE AND ELLIOT CURRENTLY LEADS BY ABOUT 29-THOUSAND VOTES
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THE SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY BROKE GROUND ON THE NEW COMMUNITY VET HOSPITAL AND CANEPA FAMILY SPAY/NEUTER CENTER THIS WEEK
THE FACILITY IS AN EXPANSION TO THE SD-HS GAINES STREET LOCATION.
THE ORGANIZATION SAYS THE FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT AIMS TO HELP LOW-INCOME PET PARENTS GET TREATMENT BEFORE MANAGEABLE CONDITIONS BECOME EMERGENCIES
THE CENTER PLANS TO ADDRESS THREE URGENT NEEDS:
1 - PROVIDE REDUCED-COST VET CARE FOR OWNED PETS
2 - EXPAND THEIR SPAY AND NEUTER SERVICES TO HELP PREVENT UNPLANNED LITTERS
AND 3 — ADDITIONAL HOUSING FOR SHELTER DOGS LOOKING FOR A FOREVER HOME
SD-HS SAYS THAT ONCE COMPLETE … THE CENTER WILL PERFORM OVER 200 SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES PER WEEK
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A BIG EVENT MAKING HEADLINES TODAY IS COACHELLA 20-27
THE FAMED-FESTIVAL RELEASED THEIR OFFICIAL LINEUP FOR THE 20-27 COACHELLA MUSIC FESTIVAL TAKING PLACE OF COURSE IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY
DUA LIPA, TAME IMPALA, SZA AND DADDY YANKEE ARE AMONG THE HEADLINERS … ALONGSIDE OTHER MAJOR ACTS LIKE MADONNA, DON TOLIVER, WEEZER, KEHALNI, BECKY G AND MORE
COACHELLA TAKES PLACE OVER TWO WEEKENDS IN APRIL NEAR PALM SPRINGS AND IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST ANNUAL MUSIC EVENTS TYPICALLY DRAWING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO THE DESERT
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News NowStay with me for more of the local news you need
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SDG&E CUSTOMERS SHOWED OUT IN FORCE TUESDAY AFTERNOON TO SLAM A PROPOSED RATE HIKE.
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER KEVIN TREVELLYAN HAS MORE FROM SANTEE
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RATEFOLO 1 TOT (0:51) SOQ
SDG&E wants to raise electric and gas rates by more than 8 percent in 2028. More than 100 people packed a public hearing at Santee City Hall to share their thoughts, with most in opposition.
Lemon Grove resident Jacquelyn Clark said the hike is too much, given rising prices on other necessities like transportation and groceries.
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“The math still doesn’t math. The bills are bigger than the money coming in. These multimillion dollar companies are here asking you to protect their bottom line. We’re asking you to protect ours.”
The hearing was part of a complicated regulatory process to figure out how much money SDG&E can collect from customers over a four-year span starting in 2028.
In a statement, an SDG&E spokesperson acknowledged customer concerns about affordability and said the company is focused on keeping bills as manageable as possible.
KT, KPBS News
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HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES ARE HIGHLIGHTING ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL ICE TACTIC. AFTER JUDGES ORDER IMMIGRANTS RELEASED FROM DETENTION, FEDERAL AGENTS DROP THEM OFF LATE AT NIGHT - IN THE STREET WITH NOWHERE TO GO. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY SINCE SEPTEMBER.
ON WEDNESDAY REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SPOKE WITH TWO MEN WHO WERE THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM HOME.
ICEDROPOFF (gs) 3:34 SOQ
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CARLOS_3594 00:03:47:26 / 10:57:36:02“Llegan a un lugar así en mi caso que yo no conozco donde es … Apagan el bus y te bajan y te tiran en la calle.”
They stop the bus and throw us into the street.
They stop the bus and throw us out on the street. That’s how a Guatemalan man described his release from the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Tuesday night. Around 10 p.m. with no phone, money or even a change of clothes.
CARLOS_3594 00:05:11:11 / 10:58:59:43“Porque yo vengo de Florida entonces no tengo conocimiento como es el área de acá … No hay un familiar cerca.”
I’m from Florida. I don’t know anyone here.
Perez asked us to use his last name only because of a pending deportation case. He was arrested in Miami in August while working as a landscaper.
Detainees who live in San Diego can easily call friends and family after they are released. But people like Perez had no one to call. He was alone and scared. Until volunteers from a group called Detention Resistance took him to Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Logan Heights.
CARLOS_3595 00:02:08:32 / 11:17:06:38“Folks are getting released at close to 10 p.m. without charged phones, without money, without any idea of how to get to the airport.”
Brinkley Johnson is the founding manager of the church’s Pope Francis Center - where more than 100 released detainees have slept since October. She says the Trump administration’s actions are intentionally cruel.
CARLOS_3595 00:08:24:38 / 11:23:22:40“The processes and protocols that the government takes are deliberate but they are not inevitable. And it’s important to recognize that. We could do this completely differently, we could treat people with dignity.”
Johnson says volunteers try to fill that gap.
CARLOS_3595 00:03:24:11 / 11:18:22:17“We partner with Detention Resistance. They handle the logistics. They really take care of the folks and make sure they get to and from space, on to the airport, help them coordinate with family to get flights. We provide hospitality. So a safe place to sleep, meal, a shower, and hopefully some smiles.”
She adds that those who have stayed at the church are working class people with families. Not the bad hombres or worst of the worst that President Trump claims his deportation campaign targets.
CARLOS_3595 00:07:43:56 / 11:22:41:58“These people who are being picked up in the community are 9 times out of 10 they are fathers, they are workers, they are uncles, they are good people. They are god-fearing people, they go to church, they help their neighbors. And they’re usually often picked up while they’re working.”
That’s what happened to another man who slept in the church. He also asked us to use only his last name - Bautista. In July, Federal agents arrested him in Orlando as he was being driven home from a construction job.
CARLOS_3596 00:08:43:31 / 11:35:36:19“Nosotros íbamos a la casa. Del trabajo pa la casa. Nos faltaba como dos millas pa llegar.”
We were heading home from work. We were two miles away from home.
Bautista says they were just two miles away from home. When a local Sheriff’s Deputy pulled the driver over for speeding and called ICE agents. ICE detained him – even though he wasn’t driving and had committed no crime.
This kind of collaboration between local law enforcement and federal agents is common in Florida and 37 other states … but illegal in California.
At the Pope Francis Center, Perez and Bautista got a good night’s sleep, a chance to charge their phones and make travel arrangements back to Florida.
The two men bonded over a breakfast of coffee and fruit on Wednesday morning.. They talked about their families … and both teared up when asked about their children.
CARLOS_3594 00:09:56:21 / 11:03:44:53“Él está ansioso de verme. Dice que voy a estar en su cumpleaños.”
He’s excited to see me. Says I’m going to be there for his birthday.
Perez missed one of his son’s birthdays while in detention. But he will be home for his other son’s birthday next week.
Volunteers drove them to the airport.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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SIX YEARS AGO AGO, the city of SAN DIEGO VOTERS APPROVED MORE ROBUST CITIZEN OVERSIGHT OF POLICE. BUT THE WATCHDOG COMMISSION STILL ISN’T FULLY FUNCTIONAL.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS A NEW GRAND JURY REPORT TAKES CITY LEADERS TO TASK FOR THE DELAYS.
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CPPJURY 1 (ab) 1:11 soq
AB: The Commission on Police Practices was created by voters to independently investigate complaints against police officers. But its power has been limited by short staffing and ongoing talks between the city and the police union. The grand jury report makes five recommendations on how the city could improve the Commission on Police Practices. That includes giving the commission direct access to SDPD's Internal Affairs database. SDPD says their software can't provide that access without violating officer privacy rights. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera says the department should simply get better software.
SER: "Our police department … wants to be able to use license plate readers to track people across the city, wants to bring in AI to help write reports. You name it, and SDPD is going after it. And we haven't even looked to see whether or not there's a different database that could provide the access that the CPP is asking for."
AB: The City Council voted 5-1 on Tuesday to approve a modified response to the grand jury report — one that plainly admits the Commission on Police Practices needs more staffing and authority to fully investigate complaints against police officers. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news
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SAN DIEGO COUNTY IS ASSUMING A BIGGER ROLE IN ADDRESSING THE TIJUANA RIVER SEWAGE CRISIS. LAST MONTH, IT HIRED ITS FIRST POLLUTION CRISIS CHIEF
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA RECENTLY SPOKE WITH BRIDGET PREMONT. SHE IS A FORMER DIPLOMAT AND ECONOMIC CHIEF AT THE U.S. CONSULATE IN TIJUANA. HERE’S THEIR CONVERSATION.
Bridget Premont: My vision really is to try to focus on long term planning. So to connect all of those offices together, to try to determine what we've spent in the past so that we can more easily show why future investment on this is really worth it to the taxpayer. We have been approaching this in kind of a stopgap way. And by we, I mean state, local, federal government, it feels that way. So, I really hope that my role can help state, local, and federal government to come together and try to plan together.
Tammy Murga: Given your background working in Tijuana, as well, your relationship with Mexican officials and how you will bring that to the table to help facilitate solutions?
Bridget Premont: I think that having been a federal official, the talking point that this is a technical issue best left to the experts, that's a familiar talking point to me. So while we do very sincerely want to engage with federal partners, gone are the days that we are going to forget about this. Like this is part of what I'll be doing is making sure that this is front and center for whomever is, you know, running the IBWC.
Tammy Murga: It seems like the county is really saying enough is enough. We have a much greater role to play in this crisis. I'm curious what you think about the county, just saying there's more we can do here.
Bridget Premont: I'm not, you know, a chief of crises. I'm a chief of crisis response. But I think the first step in understanding how to solve this is accepting the fact that the solution means working on this for the long term, planning out really far in the future and dedicating funds toward that end.
One thing that's really important in crisis management is recognizing that when emotion is involved, things can get a little crazy. … I'm even reminding myself now, this is not helpful to turn this into an emotional thing. I think that there is a very palpable sense of, I'm tired of waiting. I'm just going to do something, you know? That is a real thing and I approach that full of respect.
But at the same time, I think it's reasonable to say, like, we know that the source of this problem is in Mexico. The engineers tell us that the most cost-effective way to address it is in Mexico. We're not denying that in any way. But the county, as local government, wants to be responsive to its constituents. … And we can't be waiting for 10 or 15 years to see improvement. So that is why we are studying this. What could we possibly do from this side?
Tammy Murga: I did want to go back to you being an Imperial Beach resident and how the sewage crisis has impacted you as a resident there.
Bridget Premont: My story is it starts with the fact that I was a U.S. diplomat for almost 25 years. So my family and I have lived all around the world. We were assigned to Tijuana, Mexico in 2017. I did know a lot about this issue over those four years. But to be honest, it never entered my mind when I thought about buying a property in Imperial Beach because, you know, we love the beach, but my family are not surfers. And, we thought, oh, it's a beautiful place. in the early morning, you know, we would always sleep with all the windows closed and now with county air purifiers, but then you get up early, and as soon as you open the door, you know, to let the dog out or something. There were days when it would kind of hit you in the face. That smell.
Tammy Murga: I wonder, too, if in this role you envision working with the community directly going to, I mean, your neighbors essentially, right?
Bridget Premont: So, yeah. So actually, it's good that you brought that up because I was gonna forget. November 14th, the county is hosting a healthy community fair at the Imperial Beach Library. And the point of this is to discuss, results of a new study that's just come out from the ATSDR, which is a division of CDC, looking at health effects and I will be there.
ANCHOR: THAT WAS SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S NEW POLLUTION CRISIS CHIEF BRIDGET PREMONT SPEAKING WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA
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LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE HAS OPENED THE WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL "GRIM." AFTER 300,000 YEARS OF COLLECTING SOULS, THE GRIM REAPER IS READY TO RETIRE. NOW SOMEONE HAS TO TAKE OVER
ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO HAS THIS PREVIEW
GRIM (ba) 1:11 SOQ
Passing on the family business is not always easy, especially when the business is death.
CLIP Music
Director Sammi Cannold says the new musical Grim imagines what happens when the Grim Reaper decides to retire.
[02:36:34.26] - SAMMI CANNOLD So Grimm tells the story of the Grim Reaper's daughter, Diana. and it is time for someone else to take the throne. And it becomes clear that Diana is the one who has to do it. But she falls in love with life vis-à-vis a friendship with a human that she's supposed to kill. And chaos ensues.
Cannold adds that it’s a story with a lot of heart and soul.
[02:51:05.01] - SAMMI CANNOLD I hope that people learn something about their relationship to life in terms of how they value the days they have. And also for people who are currently going through loss, will go through loss, have gone through loss, which is all of us, that there's something that helps
La Jolla Playhouse has extended the musical’s run through Dec. 6. You can see Grim at the Mandell Weiss Theatre.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News
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That’s it for today’s pod. Today’s podcast was edited by Elma Gonzalez Lima Brandao and is hosted and produced by myself, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
