Summer meal program is feeding 11,000 kids a day
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s WEDNESDAY, JULY SIXTEENTH
>>>> A SUMMER MEAL PROGRAM THAT’S FEEDING UP TO 11 THOUSAND KIDS A DAYMore on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
*NAT SOT OF AIRPLANE FLYING BY*
THE F-A-A HAS PUT FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS TOWARDS THE QUIETER HOME PROGRAM.
THAT PROGRAM PROVIDES SOUND DAMPENING FOR HOMES IN THE SAN DIEGO AIRPORT’S FLIGHT PATH.
WHEN IT COMES TO SOUND DAMPENING, IT INVOLVES TASKS LIKE INSTALLING NOISE-MITIGATING DOORS OR WINDOWS, AND ADDING WEATHER-STRIPPING AND CAULKING AROUND ANY OPENINGS
WITH THIS NEW FUNDING ROUGHLY 250 HOMES WILL QUALIFY.
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TWO MEN HAVE BEEN CHARGED IN AN ALLEGED MILLION DOLLAR PIZZA FRANCHISE FRAUD CASE TAKING PLACE ACROSS THREE YEARS.
INVESTORS WERE LED TO BELIEVE THEY WERE BUYING STOCK OPTIONS OR A PIZZA CHAIN FRANCHISE.
THE TWO MEN ARE CHARGED WITH MORE THAN TWO DOZEN COUNTS RELATED TO FRAUD AND THEFT
THE VICTIMS UNFORTUNATELY WERE MADE UP OF VULNERABLE SENIOR CITIZENS AND MILITARY VETERANS PAYING ANYWHERE BETWEEN 5 THOUSAND AND ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
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LEGOLAND IS HEADED TO SPACE
WELL… ALMOST! LEGOLAND WILL LAUNCH A NEW SPACE-THEMED WING EARLY NEXT YEAR FEATURING AN INDOOR ROLLERCOASTER, TWO NEW SPACE AGE RIDES, JUNIOR ASTRONAUT TRAINING FOR TODDLER’S AND A GALACTIC GRUB AND GEAR HUB
ENTRY TO THE NEW AREA WILL BE INCLUDED WITH GENERAL ADMISSION
THE INDOOR COASTER WILL ALSO BE ADDED TO THE LEGOLAND FLORIDA RESORT MAKING IT THE SINGLE BIGGEST IN-PARK INVESTMENT IN LEGOLAND’S HISTORY. IT’S PROJECTED TO COST MORE THAN 90 MILLION DOLLARS
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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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THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IS SEEING A BIG INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR FOOD IN IT’S SUMMER MEAL PROGRAM.
ALICIA PITRONE HAUSER (UH-lee-shuh PUH-trone HOW-zer) IS WITH THE DISTRICT’S FOOD & NUTRITION SERVICES. SHE SAYS LAST YEAR THEY SERVED NEARLY 250,000 MEALS ACROSS THE REGION DURING THE ENTIRE SUMMER PROGRAM.
THIS YEAR …
HUNGER 2A (:16)
“We’re averaging 11 thousand a day, 11,000 meals a day. We started the program on June 4th and so far we've served 340 thousand meals and we have three weeks left.”
THE PROGRAM PROVIDES FREE FOOD TO ANY SAN DIEGO CHILD AGES 18 AND UNDER, REGARDLESS OF SCHOOL ENROLLMENT.
FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAM COMES FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE STATE
A SAN DIEGO UNIFIED FOOD & NUTRITION SERVICES SPOKESPERSON SAYS FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS.
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NATIONAL CITY OFFICIALS ARE CONSIDERING APPROVAL OF A MAJOR NEW FUEL DEPOT ON THE CITY’S WEST SIDE. SOUTH BAY REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS THAT HAS ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES WORRIED THE CITY MAY BE BACKING AWAY FROM ITS DECADES-LONG PLEDGE TO REDUCE POLLUTION.
NCDEPOT 4:42 SOQ
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Margarita Garcia has lived in West National City for 25 years. She’s a retired hairdresser. Who likes knitting and loves cracking jokes.
20250626_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8525 / 4:05
MARGARITA: Estaba tratando de poner plantas. Pero estoy muy mala para. [Laughing] ANGELICA: So she’s trying to garden, but she’s very bad at it.
We’re sitting at Margarita’s dining room table. Angelica Estrada with the nonprofit Environmental Health Coalition is helping translate.
Margarita has been working with the Coalition for two decades now to push back against pollution in her neighborhood.
20250626_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8525 / 4:05
MARGARITA: O sea que me metía, de metiche. ANGELICA: She said she would get involved with everything and be nosy. [laughing]
But Margarita turn serious when we get to what we’re here to talk about today – a new fuel depot. That’s been proposed, less than a mile from her home.
The company behind the project is Houston-based USD Clean Fuels. The depot would serve as a regional distribution hub for tens of thousands of gallons of biofuels every day.
Biofuels are alternatives to petroleum-based gas and diesel. They’re made from cleaner sources like vegetable oils and algae. But to transport the fuels…the company would rely on diesel-burning trucks and trains.
USD says the depot would support California’s goals for cleaning the air and slashing climate-warming emissions. But Margarita says it would be a step backwards for National City.
20250626_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8525 / 13:42
MARGARITA: Ya tenemos mucho tiempo que estamos tratando de limpiar la ciudad de de tóxicos, ya casi lo estamos logrando y luego ya nos viene otro peor. Pues no es justo.
We've been trying to clean the city of pollution for a long time, she says. We're almost there, and then something worse comes along. It’s not fair.
USD declined a request for an interview request.
West National City used to be mostly small, single-family homes. But in the 1960s the Port of San Diego opened a new marine cargo terminal in National City to process cars from overseas. City officials changed the city’s zoning laws and opened up the west side to small-scale manufacturing.
20250627_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8616 / 13:06
If we walk down the streets of West National City, you'll see an auto body shop, you'll see a car out on the street that's being, you know, worked on there and then you'll see a family
José Franco Garcia is the executive director of the Environmental Health Coalition. He’s not related to Margarita. Franco says those planning decisions have left people in the neighborhood breathing highly polluted air.
20250627_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8616 / 24:18
There's the human experience of living it, but we are I mean as an organization we're also doing the research and the policy to evaluate and seeing the numbers of ER visits, seeing the numbers of particulate matter, diesel particulate matter in the air.
Diesel particulate matter is one of the pollutants that Franco pays the closest attention to. Those particles come from the diesel engines in heavy gas-powered trucks and freight trains. They can reach deep into the lungs, increasing the risk of cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
Statewide data show West National City has some of the highest concentrations of diesel particulate matter in California. At Margarita’s home, her air quality monitor often reports toxic particles outside. She has an irregular heartbeat and has survived an aneurysm. Both conditions have been linked to air pollution.
As more residents on the west side spoke up, city officials started clamping down in recent years. They passed restrictions and freezes on new industrial businesses.
20100316_ncdepot_city council meeting archival / 7:56
“This has been an ongoing battle.”
That’s Mayor Ron Morrison speaking during a Council meeting in 2010.
That year, the city adopted the Westside Specific Plan. It was an ambitious pledge to undo the damage of past zoning decisions and slowly untangle those businesses from the neighborhood.
20100316_ncdepot_city council meeting archival / 8:40
“The west side today does not look like it did 10 years ago. And people that are realistic that look at it, say there has been drastic change, there's there's room for more change, yeah, we've only just begun.”
But environmental advocates worry the proposed fuel depot would hurt those ongoing efforts to reduce pollution.
The city’s own environmental analysis says the depot would lead to more trains and trucks — and more diesel pollution — on the west side of the city. The project is also facing questions from state regulators about what it would mean for residents’ health.
City Councilmember Luz Molina represents the district that includes the proposed depot. She declined an interview request but encouraged residents to stay engaged in the process.
Franco with the Environmental Health Coalition says the decision comes at an especially fragile time for environmental justice efforts across the country.
President Donald Trump has severely weakened California’s biggest environmental mandates. His administration has also slashed environmental grants for communities of color and poorer neighborhoods.
Franco says that includes some awarded to his organization.
20250627_ncdepot_ksuzuki_z63_8616 / 55:09
There's a lot of fights going on right now [...] so not everybody who probably would be concerned about this can jump into it.
Still, Franco says it makes him hopeful to know that residents like Margarita are carrying on West National City’s tradition of working together to make their voices heard.
The city’s planning commission will vote on whether or not to move the project forward in the coming weeks.
In National City, Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
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THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TIKTOK SHOWS ITS USERS SHORT VIDEOS TAILORED TO THEIR INTERESTS. BUT CAN IT AFFECT HOW THEY READ THE NEWS? EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SPOKE TO A RESEARCHER AT SDSU WHO SET OUT TO FIND AN ANSWER.
TIKTOK 1 1:14 SOQ
Bridget Cole was in graduate school at San Diego State when she first downloaded TikTok.
COLE
I would find myself taking breaks using TikTok and other social media.
When she switched back to reading textbooks and articles, she noticed something.
COLE
I found it was really affecting my own attention and being able to really immerse myself.
Cole and other SDSU researchers conducted a study of more than 200 people. They used eye-tracking software to measure how quickly they read news articles. Some browsed TikTok right before reading.
COLE
They were just scanning each one and shifting to the next paragraph more quickly than those who did not watch TikTok right before.
Nik Usher studies the connection between big tech, journalism and democracy at the University of San Diego. They say it’s important to remember that TikTok and other social media use algorithms that keep your attention.
USHER
My data is being used to target my brain for content that I want to consume. And while it seems, like, maybe harmless, it is not, right? It's giving a lot of corporate control to my attention.
The big takeaway, Usher says, is that apps like TikTok are succeeding at – and profiting off of – how our brains want us to spend our time. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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IT’S OFFICIALLY PRIDE MONTH IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO. REPORTER ANDREW DYER WAS AT CITY HALL YESTERDAY (TUESDAY) FOR THE KICKOFF AND SAYS THIS YEAR’S CELEBRATION HAS A RENEWED SENSE OF PURPOSE.
PRIDEKICKOFF 1 (ad) :53 SOQ
THE MONTH OF JULY 2025 IS SAN DIEGO LGBTQ PLUS PRIDE MONTH IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO.
SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL MEMBER STEPHEN WHITBURN WITH OTHER CITY LEADERS WELCOME REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LGBTQ PLUS COMMUNITY TO KICK OFF PRIDE MONTH.
LOCAL LEADERS SAY THIS YEAR'S ONGOING SUPPRESSION OF LGBTQ IDENTITY AND RIGHTS FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, HAS GIVEN THE LOCAL CELEBRATORY NATURE OF PRIDE A MORE COMBATIVE SENSE OF URGENCY.MAYOR TODD GLORIA SAYS IT’S HARD NOT TO FEEL DOWN RIGHT NOW.
PRIDE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A RESPONSE TO ADVERSITY.
IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE ABOUT THOSE WHO SOUGHT TO BRING US DOWN, BUT RATHER COMING TOGETHER TO LIFT ONE ANOTHER UP. AND WE NEED THAT NOW MORE THAN EVER.
THE CITY ALSO ANNOUNCED THIS YEAR’S PRIDE HONOREES, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS.
THE 51ST ANNUAL SAN DIEGO PRIDE FESTIVAL STARTS WITH THE PRIDE PARADE SATURDAY AT 10 AM.
ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS
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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 Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
