Supervisors seek emergency declaration for Tijuana River Valley
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday June 21st.>>>>
Two county supervisors want to declare a state of emergency in the Tijuana river valley following continued cross-border sewage spills. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines…
One of San Diego’s largest employers is laying off hundreds of employees.. 415 Qualcomm staff will be out of a job come mid-July.. The layoffs were recently reported to the California Employment Development Department. Last month the cell phone chip manufacturer reported 9.3 billion dollars in revenues for the second quarter of 2023.. That’s down about two billion from the same time last year..
Two brush fires in San Diego county prompted evacuation warnings as crews worked quickly to stop them from growing.. They were part of several fires reported yesterday.. Out east, in Pine Valley, the Blackwood Fire saw some residents evacuated as high winds contributed to its spread.. Cal Fire officials say it burned 37 acres and destroyed one structure.. Also out east near Barona the Wildcat Fire threatened homes and businesses.. By early evening the forward rate of progress was stopped at 20 acres.
Today is the first day of summer.. And while we’ve been seeing a lot of May gray and June gloom -- it has been warmer with clearer skies recently.. Today is the summer solstice representing the longest day of the year.. The season is typically a busy one for San Diego.. It’s a time when many tourists come to the region for our beaches, 4th of July fireworks and large events like Comic-Con. Today temperatures in the low to mid 70s are expected across the county.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
SAN DIEGO POLITICIANS ARE CALLING FOR A FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF THE SEWAGE FLOWS COMING ACROSS THE U-S MEXICO BORDER. KPBS ENVIRONMENT REPORTER ERIK ANDERSON HAS DETAILS.
County supervisors Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson Remer joined Imperial Beach mayor, Paloma Aguirre in an effort to dial up a sense of urgency over the region’s cross border pollution problem. The South County has been pummeled by nearly constant cross border sewage flows since January. Vargas says it is time for the federal government to declare a state of emergency.
“I think now we are in a point where we say we need urgent attention to this issue, right? We’ve been following the rules. We’ve been following the process. Its time now to get to the next level.”
Vargas says the federal government has never taken that step before. She says it would allow the region to tap into more funding and speed up efforts to fix the problem.
Erik Anderson KPBS News
NOW THAT A STRIKE BETWEEN ONE UNION AGAINST MTS BUS CONTRACTOR TRANSDEV HAS ENDED.. THE FOCUS SHIFTS TO ANOTHER STRIKE THAT’S A MONTH OLD. MORE ON HOW TRANSIT LEADERS ARE RESPONDING FROM KPBS REPORTER JOHN CARROLL.
THE MONTH-OLD STRIKE BY TEAMSTERS LOCAL 542 AGAINST TRANSIT SERVICE COMPANY TRANSDEV INVOLVES DRIVERS OF ACCESS PARATRANSIT AND MINIBUS SERVICE. THE DECISION BY THE MTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO CONTRIBUTE A MILLION DOLLARS ENDED THE OTHER STRIKE WHICH PRIMARILY AFFECTED SERVICE IN THE SOUTH BAY AND EAST COUNTY. MTS BOARD CHAIRMAN STEPHEN WHITBURN SAYS HE’S WILLING TO CONSIDER KICKING IN MONEY AGAIN TO END THE CURRENT STRIKE. BUT BOARD MEMBER MARCUS BUSH SAYS THIS WAY OF DOING BUSINESS LEADS TO A BIGGER, MORE LONG-TERM QUESTION.
“THIS IS THE SECOND TIME WITHIN A YEAR THAT TRANSDEV IS COMING TO US ASKING FOR MORE MONEY. SO, WE JUST REALLY NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AND ASK OURSELVES, IS THIS WORKING?”
BUSH, WHITBURN AND OTHER BOARD MEMBERS SAY IT’S TIME TO CONSIDER ENDING THE PROCESS OF SUB-CONTRACTING OUT FOR DRIVERS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES, AND BRING ALL OF THEM BACK IN HOUSE. JC, KPBS NEWS.
THE CITY OF CARLSBAD RECENTLY APPROVED FUNDING TO LOWER THE RAILROAD TRACKS THROUGH CARLSBAD VILLAGE..
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS THE IDEA IS TO HELP IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY.
THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED MORE THAN 5 MILLION DOLLARS TOWARD THE PROJECT'S NEXT PHASE.
IT WILL COST ROUGHLY FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TO TRENCH THE TRACKS. MOST OF THAT WILL BE FUNDED BY GRANTS.
CARLSBAD CITY COUNCIL MEMBER MELANIE BURKHOLDER SUPPORTS THE IDEA.
“THIS IS AN INVESTMENT. IT IS NOT JUST SPENDING MONEY, AND IT’S COMING BACK TO US IF, FOR SOME REASON, WE ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL.”
LOWERING THE TRACKS 30 FEET WOULD ALSO IMPROVE SAFETY FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CARS. MOST ACCIDENTS HAPPEN AT STREET-LEVEL RAILROAD CROSSINGS.
THE PROJECT IS PART OF SANDAG'S PLAN TO DOUBLE-TRACK THE ENTIRE COASTAL RAILWAY TO INCREASE CAPACITY.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TITAN SUB IN THE ATLANTIC …HAS MANY EXPERTS OFFERING THEIR PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED.. AND WHY THE CREW OF FIVE LOST CONTACT SHORTLY AFTER ATTEMPTING TO REACH THE TITANIC WRECK SITE.
KPBS EDUCATION REPORTER M.G. PEREZ HAS MORE.
SETUP SOT 6:37-6:39 “one of the main issues is that they are so far down.”
Josh Piven knows about crisis situations.
He’s co-written The Worst Case Scenario Survival book series.
The Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park is preparing a new interactive exhibit based on that series …teaching visitors how to survive everything from an avalanche to a wild animal attack.
Piven has been studying the disappearance and search of the Titan submersible in the Atlantic.
He says the carbon monoxide scrubbing system must keep functioning.
SOT: If that were to fail…then essentially as you exhale …the oxygen would become dirtier and dirtier…and you wouldn’t be able to breathe.”
Piven reminds us that the TITAN is so small ….it does not have space for dozens of heavy oxygen tanks that would be required for days of survival. MGP KPBS News
Coming up.... A proposed bill working its way through Sacramento would help low-income teens gain access to mental health treatment… but some parents are worried it could take away their rights. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
World Refugee Day is a time to honor and acknowledge the refugees around the world. Every June 20th the United Nations marks the day.. KPBS Reporter Melissa Mae tells us about a local agency who helps refugees who are relocated in San Diego.
MM: This year, World Refugee Day focuses on the power of inclusion and solutions for refugees… This year’s theme is “Hope away from Home. A world where refugees are always included.”
MM: World Refugee Day celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution…
MM: Ross Fackrell (FAHC-rell) is the director of refugee resettlement for Jewish Family Service of San Diego. He says there are currently over 60 million displaced people worldwide and that number is not going down.
RF (:14) “Refugees are a very special group of people, for the fact that they have been put in this position that you and myself could find ourselves in. We don't often think about it in those terms, but I think it's really important for us to be cognizant of that.”
MM: Fackrell (FAHC-rell) says during this last quarter, San Diego welcomed over 400 refugees. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
A NEW U-C SAN DIEGO STUDY FINDS FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE WILL NOT EASE THE POLLUTION BURDEN CARRIED BY SOME COMMUNITIES OF COLOR. KPBS ENVIRONMENT REPORTER ERIK ANDERSON HAS DETAILS.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is widely expected to help clean up air pollution, but communities of color could continue to suffer disproportionately. The study found implementing climate friendly policies may deliver cleaner air overall but not climate justice. Researcher Pascal Polonik looked at climate policies that focused on inexpensive strategies, low income neighborhoods, or areas with the poorest air quality.
00:04:39 – 00:04:52 “When implementing these climate policies, things that are meant to target greenhouse gasses, what will the effect be on those conventional air pollutants? Which are often emitted at the same time.”
Polonik says reducing tailpipe emissions was the most equitable approach. Other strategies cleaned up the air, but not as much in communities of color. The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Erik Anderson KPBS News
The San Diego City Council is upholding a decision to designate a vacant library historic. Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says since its designation, the property has fallen into disrepair.
AB: The Mission Hills branch library was shuttered in 2019. City leaders sought to use the property for affordable housing. But the city's Historic Resources Board declared the building historically significant in 2020. That put strict limits on the site's redevelopment. A nearby resident appealed, saying historic preservation had been weaponized to block affordable housing in a wealthy neighborhood. But Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said he could only base his decision on factual or procedural errors made in the designation process.
SW: I do think that our city staff makes a persuasive argument that there was no procedural error in this case.
AB: Even with the historic designation, the former library joins a long list of dilapidated city properties with an uncertain future. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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LAWMAKERS IN THE STATE SENATE ARE CONSIDERING A BILL THAT AIMS TO HELP LOW-INCOME TEENS ACCESS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT.. BUT SOME PARENTS SAY IT WOULD TAKE AWAY THEIR RIGHTS.
KQED’S HEALTH CORRESPONDENT APRIL DEMBOSKY STARTS US OFF WITH THE STORY OF A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR FROM ORANGE COUNTY.
When she was in ninth grade, Fiona Lou fell into a depression. She was having trouble adjusting at her new school and was just exhausted.
"In my life I just felt super isolated and I really couldn't like, go to school. Every day I feel like I used to, like, just cry in the mornings."
She spent her lunch period in the school Counselors office. Fiona didn't feel like she could talk to her mom or grandmother at home. It was too hard to admit she was struggling.
"I can only testify to Chinese culture, but it's very much like if you have mental health issues, you're probably just not busy enough. Like if you busy yourself more, then you won't have time to think about mental health issues and then it'll just go away."
Her mom's a single mom, working long hours as a nurse to care for her and her younger brother. Fiona just didn't want to add to her burden.
"I wouldn't want her to have to sign all these forms and, like, go to therapy with me. So I feel like it's not like we're antagonize our parents. It's just we really care for them and we feel like if we can do something by ourselves, then like, why not just do it by ourselves? It's like one less thing for them to worry about."
Fiona says for some of her peers, the parents are the problem. That's why she's pushing lawmakers to support a bill that would allow low income teens like her and her friends to get mental health counseling without their parent's consent.
"If my child is dealing with a mental health crisis, I want to know about it."
James Gallagher is one of several Republicans in the state assembly who voted against the bill.
"And this misguided and I think, wrongful trend in our policy now that is continuing to exclude parents from that equation and say they don't need to be informed is wrong."
"You have to hear this. California parents horrified after Democrats in the state push a new bill that gives therapists the power to take children as young as 12 years old away from their homes."
A Bay area mom and attorney Aaron Friday went on Fox News a couple of weeks ago, calling the bill state sanctioned kidnaping. To her, this is part of the debate over who influences the care of trans-gender youth.
"These are counselors who are indoctrinated. And they get to decide where your child goes. It's a it's a just a terrifying bill."
The thing is, parents like Friday and Gallagher, parents who have private insurance, their kids already have the right to get mental health care without their permission. That's been law in California for 13 years. All this bill does is extend that right to low income kids who have Medi-Cal.
"This is about equity. This is an equity thing because this is only an equity issue. This is for medical."
Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo is the bill's author. She sees this as a commonsense update to existing law. Back in 2010, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was in office, the original bill passed with bipartisan support and it was signed into law by a Republican governor.
It had no opposition. But now Carrillo's office is getting death threats.
"Since then, the extremes on both sides have gotten so extreme that we have a hard time actually talking about the need for mental health."
She says the goal of this bill is to encourage talking. Oftentimes, what a young person needs is support on how to talk about ental health issues with their parents.
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 and start to summer.
