Sorrento Valley wildfire forces evacuations

Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s Tuesday, June 9th.

A PAIR OF NEW WILDFIRES SCORCHED PARTS OF THE COUNTY YESTERDAY, MORE ON THAT NEXT. BUT FIRST... LET’S DO THE HEADLINES….

SAN DIEGO MAYOR TODD GLORIA IS NOW THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS. 

HE OFFICIALLY TOOK THE ROLE OVER SUNDAY AT THE ORGANIZATION’S ANNUAL MEETING IN LONG BEACH.

THE NON-PARTISAN ORGANIZATION REPRESENTS CITIES WITH AT LEAST 30,000 PEOPLE.

AND ADVOCATES FOR THEM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. 

HE’S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PRESIDENT OF THE ORGANIZATION AND THE FIRST SAN DIEGO MAYOR IN THE POSITION.

THE SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK IS GETTING A NEW REFRIGERATOR TRUCK.

IT’S THANKS TO A 150 THOUSAND DOLLAR  GRANT TO THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO FROM CALRECYCLE. THE STATE AWARDS SUCH GRANTS FOR PROJECTS THAT HELP CALIFORNIA REACH ITS CLIMATE CHANGE GOALS.

THE FOOD BANK SAYS THE TRUCK WILL HELP THEM RESCUE MORE HIGH QUALITY FOOD TO  DELIVER TO THOSE IN NEED.

THE SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK SERVES AROUND 400,000 PEOPLE EACH MONTH.

AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR, THE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. POOL IN ENCANTO IS ONCE AGAIN OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

THE POOL CLOSED IN NOVEMBER 2024 FOR RENOVATIONS AND UPGRADES, INCLUDING THE POOL DECK BEING RESURFACED, LIGHTING AND  A NEW POOL LIFT AND LOCKERS. IT REOPENED LAST WEEK.

THE CITY SAYS THE UPGRADES ARE THE FIRST MAJOR RENOVATIONS AT THE FACILITY SINCE IT OPENED IN 1969.

THE RENOVATIONS WERE FUNDED BY A $2 MILLION STATE GRANT AND MORE THAN $400,000 FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.

TO CELEBRATE THE POOL’S REOPENING FREE ADMISSION PASSES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE POOL FOR TUESDAYS THROUGH SATURDAYS THIS MONTH AND FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

IT TOOK FIREFIGHTERS  ABOUT SIX HOURS YESTERDAY TO STOP A FIRE THAT THREATENED BUILDINGS AND FORCED EVACUATIONS IN SORRENTO VALLEY.

REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS A QUICK RESPONSE KEPT THE FIRE UNDER 100 ACRES.

The fire started around 9:30 in the morning in the 41-hundred block of Sorrento Valley Boulevard.

It quickly grew to 80 acres because of dense brush that has not burned in a while.

Keith Olmo works in the area. He says crews were on the scene within minutes.

“a lot of fire, a lot of smoke, you know, it was moving pretty quick. It was, you know, moving up the mountain and pushing east with the wind. The fire crews are here incredibly fast, you know, setting up their stations up and down Sorrento Valley Boulevard.”

Alexander Nguyen, KPBS NEWS.

ANOTHER FIRE SCORCHED ABOUT FOUR ACRES NEAR THE OCEANSIDE AIRPORT YESTERDAY.

FLAMES ERUPTED ABOUT 10 YESTERDAY MORNING ALONG STATE ROUTE 76 AND NORTH CANYON DRIVE, PROMPTING EVACUATION ORDERS AND WARNINGS.. 

AMONG THOSE IMPACTED WAS THE HUMANE SOCIETY ON AIRPORT ROAD, WHICH HAD TO EVACUATE EVERYONE ON ITS CAMPUS, INCLUDING THE 116 ANIMALS HOUSED THERE.

ONCE THE FIRE WAS OUT... EVERYONE STARTED MOVING BACK.

PARKING IN BALBOA PARK WILL BE FREE AGAIN STARTING IN JANUARY.

THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL VOTED YESTERDAY TO END PAID PARKING AT THE END OF THE YEAR.

IT’S PART OF A SETTLEMENT WITH A GROUP OF HOMEOWNERS WHO SUED THE CITY OVER ITS TRASH COLLECTION FEES.

PAID PARKING WAS EXPECTED TO GENERATE FOUR-POINT-FIVE-MILLION DOLLARS IN REVENUE FOR THE CITY THIS FISCAL YEAR. 

CITY BUDGET ANALYST CHARLES MODICA (MAW-dicka) SAYS IT’S ALREADY BROUGHT IN NEARLY FOUR-MILLION. 

While the overall impacts to the upcoming fiscal year are minor, it's also worth acknowledging that this means that there will be less revenue around 7 to $10 million once we hit FY 28, and next year's budget cycle will have to take that into account.

THE CITY SAYS IT WILL ISSUE REFUNDS FOR PORTIONS OF ANNUAL PARKING PASSES THAT ARE UNUSED AFTER JANUARY FIRST.

MEANWHILE TODAY, THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL IS EXPECTED TO VOTE ON PROPOSALS THAT PARTIALLY RESTORE FUNDING FOR PARKS, LIBRARIES, AND ARTS AND CULTURE IN THE CITY’S BUDGET. 

BUT REPORTER JAKE GOTTA SAYS THERE’S STILL MORE WORK TO DO TO COMPLETELY CLOSE THE DEFICIT.   

San Diego’s budget process for the next fiscal year is wrapping up but the latest proposal still leaves the city in a deficit that’s expected to grow.

Public outcry led the mayors office to restore some funding for libraries and rec centers, prioritizing underserved communities.

And a partnership with the county and the prebys foundation was announced on friday to restore most arts and culture funding.

But it’s still unclear if funding for the multimodal team of traffic engineers will be restored. they’re the team that creates new safer street designs when roads are repaved.

The council will vote on a plan to fund that team a long with the rest of the budget.

This latest city council wish list still leaves the city more than 15 million dollars short of a balanced budget. and it could be closer to 30 million next year.

Jake Gotta, KPBS News.

ELSA SEVILLA IS THE HOST OF THE KPBS TV SHOW “HISTORIC PLACES.”

IN A NEW EPISODE, SHE LOOKED AT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN OUR REGION BEFORE AMERICA WAS FOUNDED 250 YEARS AGO

SEVILLA SAT DOWN WITH JADE HINDMON TO TALK ABOUT SAN DIEGO’S INDIGENOUS HISTORY.

 So how are the first peoples of Southern California, um, or who are they rather, and, and why did you wanna tell their story? The first people of Southern California are the Payómkawikam, the Cahuilla, Cupa, and the Kumeyaay. And the reason that I wanted to tell their story is that it's rarely told. Um, we don't get to hear their story, uh, as often, and we also don't get to hear it from their perspective.

So we are remembering, honoring America's 250, and so we wanted to know what was happening in the West Coast. And a lot of people have actually said, "Well, there was nothing happening in the East Coast at that time." But in reality, the first people had been here for millennia. So paint a picture for us. I mean, what was life like in Southern California before the arrival of European colonizers?

Well, life in Southern California for the first people of, um, the region was, it was a simple life, but at the same time, as I mentioned, it was sophisticated. It was, um, they used the solar system to, um, cosmology in order to, um, know when to hunt, when to harvest, when to have ceremonies. And so while we may look at their way of life today, um, pre-contact, it was simple, simple life, right?

But at the same time, it was sophisticated, and it was, uh, really interesting to see that they say that everything in nature was either food or medicine, and they knew all the plants. They knew when it was time to harvest. They knew when it was time to migrate because they used up all the resources. Well, as you mentioned, you put indigenous perspectives, um, front and center in telling this story.

Tell us about some of the voices you featured and why. Some of the voices we featured in this episode are, um, people in the Kumeyaay Nation, uh, from Barona, from Viejas, from San Pasqual, people who know the history of the Kumeyaay Nation that, um, wanted to tell their history from their perspective. I think we, we hear a lot from the American perspective, uh, from the Spanish perspective, but rarely from the, um, uh, Kumeyaay perspective.

And they have been preserving their story for the last 250 years since the, um, the Spanish arrived, and so they wanna share their story. They want their voices to be heard, but also they want their story from their perspective because we all have a different, um, perspective of what has happened to us.

And so- Mm-hmm ... we wanted to share that perspective. How does one start uncovering, um, history and, and, and culture that may have been lost? Well, I think what happened after the American period, slowly they come together, um, because they were pushed out from their original territory. And what the Kumeyaay did here in San Diego County is that they migrated from place to place, whether it was the coast, the valley, the mountains, or the desert.

And so when the Spanish arrive, they take the coast, right? And so they're not able to migrate to the coast as easily. But slowly after the Spanish, Mexican, and American periods, the Kumeyaay, um, and the different bands come together, and they, um, slowly began to bring back their language. They identify the people in their community who have that language, who may have the, the food, uh, recipe- the pea, if you will, how to make their foods.

Um, others, the baskets, the weaving, the art. And so little by little, they're able to bring back their, um, heritage. And then not only that, they, they were able to, um, um, share it with others. They create this education, um, program in the different bands, um, so that they can teach that to the younger generation, but it has taken them a long time to recover that.

What's been most fulfilling about telling these stories that are so rooted in San Diego for you? The most fulfilling part for me to tell these stories are a couple things. I think for me personally is when I find a story that's unique, um, and rare, and that people don't know about it, that excites me because, um, I can, you know, tell this wonderful story and share it with KPBS viewers.

And the second is when I do share it with KPBS viewers, they're, they're so happy that they're hearing new stories, new history that they didn't know about. Because I think that overall, we all wanna learn things when we watch TV or read a newspaper, whatever it is.

THAT WAS ELSA SEVILLA, HOST OF “HISTORIC PLACES”, SPEAKING WITH MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON

THIS EPISODE OF “HISTORIC PLACES” WILL PREMIERE ON KPBS THURSDAY AT 9PM.

YOU CAN ALSO STREAM IT ON THE KPBS-PLUS APP ONCE IT AIRS…

That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth. Today’s show was produced by Andrew Dyer and hosted by me, 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.