Veterans Day celebrations take place across county
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson…it’s WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH
>>>> [AMID SOME CANCELED EVENTS, THE VETERANS DAY PARADE STILL MARCHED ON… ]More on that next. But first... the headlines…
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THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY COULD BE COMING TO AN END. EARLIER THIS WEEK A GROUP OF SENATE DEMOCRATS BROKE RANKS AND VOTED FOR LEGISLATION TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT THROUGH JANUARY.
BUT THEY DID NOT SECURE AN EXTENSION OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT’S PREMIUM TAX CREDITS….A TOP PRIORITY FOR DEMOCRATS.
INSTEAD SENATE REPUBLICANS HAVE VERBALLY AGREED TO HOLD A VOTE ON THE ISSUE NEXT MONTH. BUT FOR SAN DIEGO REPRESENTATIVE MIKE LEVIN, THAT’S NOT ENOUGH.
LEVINSHUTDOWN 2A (jg) (:19)
“Eight Democratic senators decided to undercut the weeks and weeks of fighting, to, basically, give the Republicans everything they wanted. And Chuck Schumer either couldn't or wouldn't keep the Democrats together in the Senate.”
LEVIN SAYS HE EXPECTS THE UPCOMING VOTE IN THE HOUSE TO PASS ALONG PARTY LINES.
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AS WE WAIT, AIR TRAVEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS STILL BEING DISRUPTED
AS OF YESTERDAY, THE F-A-A IS EXPECTED TO CUT 6 PERCENT OF FLIGHTS AT 40 AIRPORTS, INCLUDING SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL
HERE THAT RESULTED IN 17 CANCELLED FLIGHTS AND 26 DELAYED FLIGHTS OUT OF THE AIRPORT YESTERDAY.
THE PERCENTAGE OF CANCELLED FLIGHTS WILL JUMP FROM SIX TO TEN PERCENT BY FRIDAY IF THE SHUTDOWN STILL ISN’T RESOLVED
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AS AMAZING AS THEY ARE, PETS ARE A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY
WITH THAT IN MIND, THE SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY ANNOUNCED A NEW PROGRAM THAT COULD HELP EASE SOME OF THE INTIMIDATION AROUND BRINGING A NEW PET HOME
‘THE ADOPTION TRIAL PROGRAM’ IS LOOKING TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN FOSTERING AND ADOPTION
YOU CAN BRING HOME AN ANIMAL WITH THE INTENTION OF ADOPTING BUT HAVE 14 DAYS TO MAKE SURE IT’S A MUTUAL FIT
ORGANIZERS SAY THIS WAY ADOPTERS DON’T HAVE TO FEEL THE PRESSURE TO COMMIT OR FEEL GUILTY, IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT
THE PROGRAM DELAYS PAYMENT AND FINAL ADOPTION PAPERWORK UNTIL AFTER THE TRIAL PERIOD
THEY SAY IT ALSO HELPS S-D-H-S GAIN VALUABLE INFO ABOUT WHAT SORT OF HOME THE PET WOULD WORK BEST IN
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 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FORCED A COUPLE VETERANS DAY OBSERVANCES TO BE CANCELED BUT THE SAN DIEGO VETERANS DAY PARADE WENT ON AS SCHEDULED YESTERDAY (TUESDAY) MORNING
MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER TAKES US THERE.
PARADE 1 (ad) 1:12 SOQBANDS, BALLOONS AND RUMBLING MOTORBIKES INCH THEIR WAY DOWN HARBOR DRIVE.
COMMUNITY FIGURES WAIVE TO THE CROWD FROM CONVERTIBLES.
ONE-HUNDRED THREE-YEAR-OLD FRED TAYLOR SITS IN A RED CLASSIC CONVERTIBLE MUSTANG. HE FLEW P-51 MUSTANGS OUT OF ITALY DURING WORLD WAR TWO, BUT TODAY, HE’S A PARADE GRAND MARSHAL.
FT: WELL, OF COURSE, BRINGS BACK ALL THE MEMORIES OF, THE CIRCLE OF MY TIME IN THE SERVICE. AND THE, FLYING BUDDIES THAT I HAD. AND, WHO, NEVER GOES AWAY.
TEN-YEAR-OLD CHLOE AND HER FRIENDS LAUREN AND LUCY, BOTH 9, ARE MARCHING IN THE PARADE WITH THEIR GIRL SCOUT TROOP AND ARE AMONG ITS YOUNGEST PARTICIPANTS.CHLOE SAYS THEY’VE GOT AN IMPORTANT JOB TO DO.
C: I'M MOST EXCITED ABOUT GIVING OUT STICKERS FOR THE RED, THE VETERINARIAN'S, THE VETERANS.
(NATS GIRLS LAUGHING)
LAUREN SAYS SHE UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLIDAY
LAUREN: VETERANS DAY IS VERY SPECIAL BECAUSE ALL THE VETERANS HAVE BEEN RETIRED OR HAVE PASSED AWAY. SO WE'RE CELEBRATING THEM TODAY.
TAYLOR CELEBRATES HIS 104TH BIRTHDAY THURSDAY.
FROM THE WATERFRONT DOWNTOWN, ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS.
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FAMILIES WHO REMEMBER THE LA CALONIA COMMUNITY IN NORTH COUNTY NOW HAVE SOME HELP IN THEIR GOAL TO IDENTIFY AND HONOR THEIR DEAD.
ALT: TO IDENTIFY AND HONOR THEIR DECEASED LOVED ONES
SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE TELLS SOME RESULTS OF AN ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THEIR CEMETERY.
GRAVEYARD 1 (tf) 1:11 SOQ.
Ambi
It’s Saturday morning and volunteers are putting up two crosses on what they believe are the graves of Lupe and Mary Gutierrez-Gonzales, Twins, who died in infancy. Finding their unmarked grave sites came to Michael Beltran’s attention when he met a man, said to be their surviving brother.
“And he tells me, you know, I believe we have two twin sisters there, we just don’t remember where the markers are and they’re gone at this time.”
The twins, from the Mexican community called La Calonia, died in 1929. Now, a group, led by Beltran, is working to care for the Del Mar cemetery. And their cause has gotten a boost from an archeological survey. The report was done by Michael Baker International, and their senior archeologist Jimmy Daniels, who examined the land with ground penetrating radar, or GPR.
Daniels believes the twins, Lupe and Mary, are buried in this spot.
“And kinda verified those locations with additional passes with the GPR and found two anomalies that were roughly the size you would expect for an infant burial and kinda evenly spaced apart.”
Daniels also found evidence of the burial of an elderly woman’s sister. With help from locals Beltran hopes to identify more grave sites. He says practically every step you take in this place, you’re walking above a grave. SOQ
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AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER IS FORECAST TO LAND IN THE COUNTY LATE THURSDAY.
ALEX TARDY IS A METEOROLOGIST WHO FOUNDED WEATHER ECHO.
HE SAYS EARLY-SEASON STORMS CAN SUGGEST A POSSIBLE ACTIVE START TO THE WATER YEAR THAT BEGAN OCTOBER FIRST.
WATERYR 1 00:17
“When we do get snowpack, and we do get more rain from the few storms we have in the winter. It can help allow that water to not just go into the ground. But go into our reservoirs where we really need to have it for storage.”
AHEAD OF THE STORM, THE COUNTY IS GIVING AWAY FREE SANDBAGS AT SEVERAL FIRE STATIONS. ##########
TRI-CITY HEALTHCARE DISTRICT AND SHARP HEALTHCARE ARE FINALIZING AN AGREEMENT FOR SHARP TO TAKE OVER TRI-CITY’S HOSPITAL OPERATIONS AND FINANCES.
THEY’RE HOLDING A SERIES OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO GET FEEDBACK ABOUT THE DEAL.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN TAKES A LOOK AT THE AGREEMENT.
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SHARPTRICITY 1(an) TRT: 0:47 SOQ
Tri-City has posted the 100-plus-page agreement on its website.
While some details still need to be finalized, the core aspects of the deal are in place.
Dr. Gene Ma is the C-E-O of Tri-City. He says the main thing is that the agreement preserves Tri-City's core services … and leaves room for improvements and maintenance.
That includes …
“a $100 million commitment in the first five years towards structural improvements, equipment, technology in addition to programs and services.”
One thing that won’t be coming back anytime soon under this deal is labor and delivery. Tri-City discontinued the service in 20-23 because of low patient volume.
Ma says Sharp is looking at all commercially viable options to bring that back.
The next community meeting is at 5 this evening at the Carlsbad Senior Center. AN/KPBS
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FROM HOUSEKEEPING TO WORKING AS A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL IN JUST A FEW MONTHS …
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS A NEW PROGRAM AT UC SAN DIEGO HEALTH IS TRAINING PEOPLE TO ADVANCE FROM LOW-WAGE JOBS INTO CLINICAL HEALTH ROLES.
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MEDTRAIN SOQ 4:29
**MEDICAL NATS … fades to ambi throughout**
In the basement of La Jolla’s UC San Diego's Jacobs Medical Center, Mae Valdehueza props open a door to a secure medical facility in full scrubs.
Inside is a bright white room, with a few people moving medical equipment.
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Mae Valdehueza | Sterile Processing Technician
:40 - :52 (:12)
“Those carts are usually filled with trays and containers that have all the instruments in it – the knives, the scissors, the retractors, the forceps – everything.”
She’s describing the first step of her work as a Sterile Processing Technician.
It's a job where she ensures thousands of medical instruments are meticulously cleaned and decontaminated, then assembled, sanitized and finally organized and stored.
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Mae Valdehueza | Sterile Processing Technician
7:54:26 - 7:54:38 (:11)
“When you talk about surgeries you think about doctors, nurses, scrub techs, but before they start their surgeries they have to have their equipment."
It's a role that is relatively new to her thanks to a special training program.
Previously she worked in housekeeping at the organization for the past eight years… and was looking for a change.
SOT 1731
Mae Valdehueza | Sterile Processing Technician
7:56:38 - 7:56:57 (:19)
“I want to go back to school and stuff like that – but there's no time for it. Because first I'm a mom, I gotta keep food and the roof over the head of my kids. And I was the breadwinner for a long time. So I got to choose between going to school or working.”
She found something that let her do both.
Valdehueza was part of the first cohort of UC San Diego health’s Sterile Processing Technician program, which graduated 10 people earlier this year.
They had dozens of applications.
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Monica Redmond | UC San Diego talent acquisition manager
8:22:19 - 8:22:24 + 8:22:43 - 8:22:48 (:10)
“So it's 18 weeks - 7 weeks at southwestern college so classroom training … And then 11 weeks of clinic training at ucsd health and that was paid training.”
UC San Diego health’s Monica Redmond says the program trains current janitors, housekeepers and food service workers for new jobs in the clinical field.
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Monica Redmond | UC San Diego talent acquisition manager
8:19:25 - 8:19:32 (:07)
“We saw we had a high number of vacancies in our sterile processing tech department and frankly a lack of qualified applicants."
The program gives UC San Diego Health a wide range of skilled workers to fill those job openings.
And the employees get paid to learn a new career.
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Mae Valdehueza | Sterile Processing Technician
8:00:56 - 8:01:05 (:09)
“So you can skip work and they'll pay you to go to school and learn about this program – so I was like it's a win- win.”
Valdehueza says the program has opened doors for further job advancement.
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Mae Valdehueza | Sterile Processing Technician
7:59:08 - 7:59:23 (:15)
“When we got here it opened up a lot of possibilities for us. So that's probably the biggest advantage I would say, but we also moved up a little on pay, on income so I'm pretty happy about that.”
The program is a partnership between UC San Diego Health and JVS Bay Area, a workforce development nonprofit.
It’s funded through a mixture of state and private dollars.
SOT Zoom
Lisa Countryman-Quiroz | JVS Bay Area CEO
3:41 - 3:50 (:09)
“Were targeting incumbent workers, so folks who are already employees of UCSD but who are in these jobs that don't have pathways for growth.”
Lisa Countryman-Quiroz is the organization's CEO.
She says programs like this one are meant for the many Californians who are in low wage jobs and may have trouble paying for basic expenses …
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Lisa Countryman-Quiroz | JVS Bay Area CEO
3:50 - 3:57 (:07)
“Our focus is to help people who don't have four year degrees or other kind of certificates.”
Jesus Delgado is another graduate from the first cohort.
He also worked in housekeeping … and said there were some similarities in his previous role to being a sterile processing technician.
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Jesus Delgado | Sterile Processing Technician
8:08:22 - 8:08:31 (:09)
“I was working in the OR turning over the room before each surgery and getting it ready for the next surgery to follow.”
While the training took place at the La Jolla campus, Delgado now works at UC San Diego’s medical center in Hillcrest.
He says the new role has reduced the number of hours he works each week from 60 or 70 … to 40.
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Jesus Delgado | Sterile Processing Technician
8:14:21 - 8:14:38 (:17)
“More importantly, I can attend all my kids' sporting events. And they can see the change as well, they're even happier because I'm able to attend their practices or games more often rather than having to FaceTime their game or something.”
The program has already selected its next 10 applicants for its second cohort, which is set to kick off in January 2026.
UC San Diego Health’s Redmond said as long as the funding is there for the program … it will continue … with the potential to expand to other clinical roles. JA 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 Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I want to thank you for that. Have a great day!
