Three victims in Islamic Center shooting remembered
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, MAY 22ND>>>> [ WE ATTENDED THE MEMORIAL FOR THE VICTIMS OF MONDAY’S ISLAMIC CENTER OF SAN DIEGO SHOOTING]More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
COUNTY SUPERVISORS RECENTLY VOTED IN FAVOR OF SPENDING NEARLY 2 MILLION DOLLARS ON A PROJECT TO BUILD SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR FORMER FOSTER YOUTH
THE PROJECT WILL BE IN VISTA AND IS SLATED TO INCLUDE 35 HOUSING UNITS
MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORIAL HEALTH SERVICES WILL BE PROVIDED ON SITE, AS WELL AS JOB TRAINING
THE COUNTY SAYS THE FUNDS WILL HELP CLOSE THE PROJECT’S FINAL FUNDING GAP
VISTA PITCHED IN TWO POINT TWO MILLION DOLLARS TO ALSO HELP FUND THE PROJECT,
THE REST OF THE PROJECT WILL BE PAID FOR WITH MONEY FROM THE STATE AND PHILANTHROPIC CONTRIBUTIONS
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A NEW 140 THOUSAND SQUARE-FOOT, THREE-STORY BUILDING CALLED THE LUSARDI TOWER RECENTLY OPENED AT SCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL'S ENCINITAS CAMPUS
THE BUILDING IS NAMED AFTER LONGTIME NORTH COUNTY PHILANTHROPISTS WARNER AND DEBBIE LUSARDI WHO DONATED TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS TOWARDS THE STRUCTURE'S CONSTRUCTION
THE TOWER FEATURES THREE DOZEN PRIVATE PATIENT ROOMS,
A MONITORING AREA FOR SURGERY AND POSTPARTUM PATIENTS AND AN I-C-U
THE TOWER'S SECOND PHASE IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY AND IS SLATED TO BE COMPLETED IN OCTOBER 20-29
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IN RESPONSE TO A BOOST IN TOURISM-RELATED TRAFFIC, SAN DIEGO CREWS ARE INCREASING STREET SWEEPING IN MISSION BAY
THROUGH SEPTEMBER, ADDITIONAL SWEEPS WILL NOW TAKE PLACE EVERY WEDNESDAY
SPECIALIZED SWEEPING EQUIPMENT WILL NOT ONLY CLEAN MAIN ROADS BUT NEARLY EVERY ALLEY IN BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH MISSION BEACH AS WELL
A STATEMENT FROM THE STORMWATER DEPARTMENT SAYS THE GOAL IS TO NOT ALLOW A BUILD UP OF TRASH OR DEBRIS FROM REACHING MISSION BAY OR THE OCEAN
SAN DIEGO'S ENVIRONMENT SERVICE DEPARTMENT ALSO SAYS THEY WILL DOUBLE TRASH COLLECTION FROM MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER FIFTH
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News NowStay with me for more of the local news you need.
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THE THREE VICTIMS OF MONDAY’S SHOOTING AT THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF SAN DIEGO WERE LAID TO REST YESTERDAY.
REPORTER ANDREW DYER ATTENDED THE MEMORIAL.
MEMORIAL 1 (ad) :52 SOQ
Mansour Kaziha, Nadir Awad, and Amin Abdulluh are being remembered as heroes. Thousands showed up to a prayer memorial at the Mission Valley River Park.
Hanif Mohebi (Ha-neef Moe-hebbee) is a longtime Islamic Center volunteer.
He knew each of the victims and doesn’t mince words about what exactly happened Monday.
HN (:12) I want to be clear. This is a terrorist act. This is terrorism. I think we need to have the courage to say that.
Setche Kwamu-Mann isn’t Muslim but came to show support for the community.
SKM (:12): I want them to know that we would do our best to keep them safe and to keep fighting this disease called hatred and this disease called white supremacy that drives such hate crimes.
The brief prayer memorial was followed by a private burial service.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News
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GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM’S REVISED BUDGET WOULD CANCEL MEDI-CAL COVERAGE FOR THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN CALIFORNIA. HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS THE CUTS INCLUDE PEOPLE WHO ARE SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, TRAFFICKING AND OTHER TRAUMA.
HEALTHCUTS 1 trt: 1:09 SOQ
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The governor’s plan means roughly 200-thousand immigrants would lose access to California’s health insurance program for low income individuals.
KIRAN SAVAGE-SANGWAN
No adults out of that group would be able to keep their Medi-Cal. If you're pregnant, you could receive your pregnancy-related services, and if you go to the emergency department, the hospital will get paid.
Kiran Savage-Sangwan is with the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. She says the changes could leave thousands of adult immigrants living in San Diego without consistent access to care.
KIRAN SAVAGE-SANGWAN
They would be ripped away from their doctors, from their therapists, from their medication, and in many cases, they would have nowhere to turn for access to health care, behavioral health care. We're talking about people who potentially are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Savage-Sangwan was in Sacramento this week with other advocates urging lawmakers to reject the changes during final budget negotiations next month.
California budget analysts say Medi-Cal costs to the state are rising because of cuts in last year's one big beautiful bill.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
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MULTIPLE CANDIDATES FOR THE 48TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT IN SAN DIEGO HAVE CAMPAIGN WEBSITE PAGES THAT ALLOW THEM TO AVOID CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULES.
A KPBS REVIEW FOUND PAGES ON THE CAMPAIGN WEBSITES OF MARNI VON WILPERT, AMMAR CAMPA NAJJAR, AND BRANDON RIKER APPEAR DESIGNED TO PROVIDE OUTSIDE SPENDING GROUPS WITH MESSAGING AND DEMOGRAPHIC TARGETS.
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER JAKE GOTTA SPOKE WITH ELECTION EXPERTS TO UNDERSTAND WHY THIS PRACTICE IS SO COMMON, AND WHAT RULES IT HELPS AVOID.
JAKE SAT DOWN WITH ANCHOR DEBBIE CRUZ TO DISCUSS THE ISSUE
48PACS (jg/qo) TRT (4:14) SOQ: california’s primary election is on june 2nd.
jake, what’s going on with these web sites?
if you look at the pages, each one has a red box around a bunch of information that’s very clearly meant for people who buy ads.
it’s called redboxing, and michael beckel from issue one, a nonprofit that works to reduce the influence of money in politics, said it does happen a lot
beckel.wav
“groups and candidates are finding ways to work together to skirt the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law in some cases,” - beckel
what law is he talking about?
there are rules over campaign finance and limits to how much money you can donate or accept as a politician. the individual contribution limit is $5,000 per campaign – and when you start to look at how much it costs to run for office, you’ll see that these campaigns are looking for all the help that they can get.
that’s where independent expenditure only political committees – or super pacs – get involved. thanks to the citizens united supreme court decision, corporations, billionaires, and wealthy mega donors can give as much money as they want to super pacs who then spend it on a campaign’s behalf.
the rules say, though, that those super pacs can’t coordinate with the campaign. so the candidate isn’t allowed to call up a billionaire funded pac and say, “i want you to tell voters this message and target these people in this area.”
but it sure sounds like these campaigns are putting that information out there.
that’s exactly right. what these campaigns, and others, have found is that if you put your messaging, your demographic targets, and even attack lines on other candidates on a public website – then there’s nobody stopping a super pac who’s interested from copying that messaging and sending it out to those targets.
that’s what’s in the red box on the media pages for von wilpert, riker, and campa-najjar. and they’re not alone; xavier beccera also has a red box on his website as he’s running for governor. and a 2024 journal article from university of chicago researchers found that more than 200 federal election campaigns had a red box in 2022; and that those who used a red box benefitted from a ton of outside spending over those who didn’t.
and are we seeing any outside spenders use that information?
oh for sure. there was a text sent out by serving ca, which is funded by irwin jacobs and jeff bezos, that mirrored the campa-najjar media page verbatim. we know campa-najjar is involved with sara jacobs, irwin’s grand daughter.
and a mailer that was sent by the veterans for truth pac used the exact same attack lines on campa-najjar that are on the von wilpert media page.
what did the campaigns tell you about these pages?
when i asked about their red box, the riker campaign declined to comment. kpbs hasn’t seen any material that mirrors rikers page.
the von wilpert campaign told me they quote “follow the law, period, full stop.” unquote and that this is a common practice in competitive campaigns.
campa-najjar also told me its common practice, but he essentially said he only did it because the other campaigns did it first. and he was adamant that he wants to limit the influence of money in politics - here’s what he said.
acn1.wav
“i want to be in congress to get rid of super pacs, to overturn citizens united. but just like prop 50 and redistricting, the whole reason we got into that fight against texas is because we cannot unilaterally disarm. we have to fight fire with fire, get into office, take power, and reform this broken, corrosive system.”
are these redboxes legal? if not then why are they still allowed to do it?
it is technically legal – for now – because, according to beckel from issue one, the federal elections commission has been unable to even investigate redboxing. in 2023 the fec declined to investigate the john hickenlooper senate campaign citing a lack of quote “resources that would be necessary to investigate”
and now there isn’t even a full slate of commissioners at the fec to investigate - and you know who’s in charge of appointing them? the president, with confirmation from congress.
so it sounds like the people in charge of the fec are the ones who benefit from super pac spending?
that’s right. whether its the president appointing commissioners, or congress approving them, or passing laws over campaign finance, beckel told me it would probably be tough to get people to support stricter rules on their own campaigns.
alright jake, thank you for that breakdown.
california’s primary election is on june 2nd.
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SAN DIEGO CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER HAROLD BROWN DIED THIS MONTH. REPORTER KATIE HYSON SAYS HIS LEGACY LIVES ON.
BROWN ft. trt 5:05 SOQ (kh/mb)
Dr. Harold Brown was a legend even before the Civil Rights movement – a basketball star at San Diego State University and president of the school’s first Black fraternity.
In 19-61, he founded a local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality.
He led protests against giants like Bank of America and S-D-G-and-E – companies that wouldn’t hire Black San Diegans.
He was jailed, but he persisted.
We sent our voices throughout the city of San Diego that we're going to continue to fight.
Brown spoke with KPBS Midday Edition last year.
W e said, ‘Ain't nobody gonna turn us around when we're going to keep on walking, keep on talking, walking down Freedom Lane . . .
*Fade into song and out . . . *
In 19-66, he hosted a live, call-in radio show.
*nat pop Viewpoints intro*
He discussed racial issues.
Black people love freedom. Every bit as much as white people love freedom. Wherever freedom is being denied . . . the cry will be let freedom ring.
In 19-71, racial conflict at S-D-S-U came to a head. Students stormed the administration building. The school then hired Brown as their first Black administrator.
He created the Africana Studies department, and hired Shirley Weber, who’s now California Secretary of State.
Weber.mp34 00:25:02:03 - 00:25:06:19
Would I be Secretary of State if I hadn't come to San Diego and met all the people that I met? I don't know.
She says it was a tense time.
CG: SHIRLEY WEBER / CA SECRETARY OF STATE
Weber.mp34 00:11:57:20 - 00:12:18:16
There were a lot of race issues in San Diego. An awful lot of my students complained about the N-word being written on the doors in the dorms . . . things that were representative of lynchings . . . They also had a, a slave sale, auction on the campus.
Weber says, many people saw ethnic studies as a fad. But Brown brought a business mindset to the department. And he taught the faculty how to navigate campus and local politics.
Weber.mp4 00:18:57:05 - 00:19:07:18
We were as influential . . . at San Diego State as we were . . . in the in the politics of San Diego and the businesses of San Diego.
Weber says when Brown attended S-D-S-U, there were about eight Black students.
He revisited campus a couple years ago.
Weber.mp4 00:30:58:12 - 00:31:06:07
You know a tear ran down Harold’s face, he was just so excited over looking at what all his sacrifice and work had come to be.
Eight students had grown to more than 13-hundred.
Lack of representation in the 1970s went beyond campus. San Diego had very few Black doctors or lawyers, judges or politicians.
Brown worked to change that.
He founded a Black professional group and an economic empowerment program.
MDAMRON_4511.MXF 12;14;39;14 - 12;14;44;13
This guy was the most persuasive guy that I’ve ever met.
One of his recruits to the cause was military veteran Joe Outlaw. After a presentation, Brown called out to him.
MDAMRON_4511.MXF 12;12;34;09 - 12;12;43;05
Come here, Colonel. [laugh] I said, what does this guy want? He said, I want you to work with me.
MDAMRON_4511.MXF 12;13;22;23 - 12;13;34;26
Harold was the type of guy that if he saw you, he didn't ask you did you want to participate. He kind of told you. [laugh]
Brown had this way of drawing people into the mission of Black empowerment.
Including Bernard Johnson, who called Brown “Mister San Diego.”
MDAMRON_4512.MXF 12;35;27;26 - 12;35;43;05
He was in touch with not just the Black community, but the white community. They loved Dr. Brown. That was impressive to me, considering civil rights was always somewhat of a segregated kind of thing.
He says he and Brown worked to redevelop historically redlined Southeastern San Diego.
MDAMRON_4512.MXF 12;38;49;03 - 12;39;01;25
Hope was just something he believed that other people should believe in. But the audacity is what he believed in, and that audacity was like – I'm going to make this happen. We're going to do this.
Even as Brown aged, he was determined to keep fighting.
MDAMRON_4512.MXF 12;44;26;04 - 12;44;38;08
He says, I'm just tired. I'm just tired, he says. But tomorrow I'll be better because tomorrow I'll be ready to boogaloo. That was his favorite saying, we gon’ boogaloo tomorrow.
In recent years, many of the rights Brown fought for have been challenged. In late April, the Voting Rights Act was gutted.
Weeks later Brown died, on his 92nd birthday.
I answer the question all the time – Hal, why don't you stop ? You've done enough now. You had to just just sit back and rest and relax.
Brown again on Midday Edition last year.
And I would tell them, I can't do that. I'm still fighting for all of the people who came before me. I came from humble beginnings. You know , I'm fighting for my mother , my family , my friends. If they can't fight, I can fight , and I'm going to continue to do that until the day I die.
His friends say he kept that promise.
*Fade back in march song under and out . . .*
Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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LEADERS OF BALBOA PARK'S MUSEUMS SAY A SETTLEMENT TO END PAID PARKING THERE IS A VICTORY. BUT REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS IT COMES AFTER THEY SUFFERED BIG FINANCIAL LOSSES.
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PARKREAX 1 : 58 SOQ
THE CITY BEGAN CHARGING TO PARK IN BALBOA PARK IN EARLY JANUARY… AND ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, THE REACTION FROM MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE PARK WAS NEGATIVE. OVER THE MONTHS, MUSEUMS SAY THEIR ATTENDANCE HAS GONE DOWN. SAN DIEGO AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM PRESIDENT AND CEO JIM KIDRICK SAYS MUSEUM LEADERS WERE NEVER CONSULTED BY THE CITY, AND HE SAYS THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE.
“I’ve got to balance a budget uh, and so evidently my budget doesn't mean anything anymore, and same with all the institutions that are here. And that's what they're saying.”
THE CITY HAS GIVEN ITSELF UNTIL THE END OF THIS YEAR TO END THE PAID PARKING PROGRAM.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BALBOA PARK CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP, PETER COMISKEY, SAYS HE’S RELIEVED THERE’S FINALLY A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL - THIS IS PAID PARKING IN BALBOA PARK. JC, KPBS NEWS.
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THIS WEEK, KPBS IS BRINGING YOU STORIES ABOUT SAN DIEGANS WHO SAY THE CLIMATE CRISIS SPURRED THEM INTO ACTION. A MOUNTAIN VIEW COUPLE HAS BEEN CLEANING THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD FOR YEARS.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS THEY’RE MOTIVATED TO PICK UP TRASH AROUND A LOCAL SCHOOL TO PROTECT THE YOUNGEST MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITY.
TRASH 1A 00:
“People think we work for the city. That’s like their first thought. And they’ll come up and ask us, like, who do you guys work for? You know, like, oh, we don't work for anyone. We typically say, like, we're your neighbors or yeah, we work for you guys.”
TRASH 1B 00:
“We're picking up, like I said, beer bottles and cigarette butts.”
TRASH 1C 00:
“These kids walk home. There's just this type of trash. Just. That's why I want to do this. Because I don't want these kids seeing this stuff. … Oh, I love it. I love it. Thank you. The neighborhood has been like this for years. I wondered.”
TRASH 1E 00:
“What it says on this stairwell, it's pretty cool. You just can't see it that well.”
TRASH 1F 00:
“It says, like, change starts here.”
TRASH 1G 00:
“This is like a divine moment, right? You get here, you're like, this is this is me. I'm the one starting the change. … Is it that feeling like we're doing the right thing and then if there was just a few more people that were spending one hour of their day doing the same thing, how how impactful can we be?”
ANCHOR TAG: THE CITY SAYS ITS WASTE CREWS PRIORITIZE ILLEGAL DUMPING OF LARGER ITEMS. BUT THEY ARE WORKING TO EXPAND A NEW PROGRAM WORKING WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS WHO ORGANIZE LITTER CLEANUPS.
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AS WE DO FOR YOU EACH AND EVERY FRIDAY, HERE ARE SOME WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS FOR YOU AND YOURS
TODAY, THE ALL NEW SHARK ENCOUNTER IS OFFICIALLY OPEN AT SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO AND FEATURES OVER 4 HUNDRED SHARK SPECIES
THEIR WEBSITE SAYS THE EXHIBIT AIMS TO MOVE PAST FEAR-BASED MYTHS ABOUT SHARKS AND INSTEAD SHOWCASE THEIR INCREDIBLE DIVERSITY
THEN… THIS SATURDAY IS THE KICKOFF FOR THE NEW MISSION VALLEY FARMERS MARKET
IT ALL STARTS AT 10 A-M AT OASIS IN FRONT OF AMC
THEY’LL BE SELLING LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE, SELF-CARE GOODS AND MORE
THIS SATURDAY THERE WILL ALSO BE A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY THE SAN DIEGO HULA ACADEMY AT NOON
AND ON SUNDAY THE VISTA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL TAKES PLACE!
YOU CAN ENJOY LOCAL VENDORS OR TAKE PART IN THE VISTA STRAWBERRY RUN OR ATTEND THE STRAWBERRY FILM FESTIVAL!
WHATEVER YOU DO DECIDE TO SPEND YOUR TIME DOING THIS WEEKEND, ENJOY!
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That’s it for the podcast this week. The podcast this week was edited by Brooke Ruth and Quinn Owen & hosted and produced 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 weekend.
