State law bars local law enforcement agencies from participating in immigration enforcement, so what role does the SDPD play during raids? And, Health and Human Services says federal money can’t be used to provide services to undocumented people. Then, a look at the latest in cannabis science, happening at UC San Diego. Finally, a local Navy veteran who played an important part in history, dies.
What are San Diego Police officers doing at ICE raids?
July 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, July 14th.
The SDPD is responding to criticism over its presence at ICE raids.
More on that next. But first... the headlines….
THE CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL IS MEETING IN SPECIAL SESSION TODAY (MONDAY) TO DEAL WITH A GARBAGE STRIKE AFFECTING THE CITY.
TRASH COLLECTION HAS STALLED IN CHULA VISTA AS WORKERS SHOW SUPPORT FOR A NATIONWIDE STRIKE.
THE TEAMSTERS UNION IS NEGOTIATING CONTRACTS WITH REPUBLIC SERVICES IN SEVERAL CITIES. UNION MEMBERS IN CHULA VISTA WALKED OFF THE JOB THURSDAY IN SOLIDARITY.
AT THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING TODAY (MONDAY) THE CITY COULD DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY THAT WOULD ALLOW THE CITY TO USE ITS OWN EMPLOYEES FOR TRASH PICKUP.
The city of San Diego is offering rebates to residents and contractors who purchase energy-efficient appliances.
People who qualify can have as much as 100 percent of the cost of an appliance covered. It’s funded by the Department of Energy.
The first phase of the program runs through September. It’s focused on areas impacted by the January floods and households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income in designated “communities of concern.”
For more information, you can visit sandiego dot gov slash heart.
San Diego County is expanding its mosquito-spraying operation after more mosquitos with West Nile Virus were found in the Rolando neighborhood.
Trucks sprayed pesticides overnight for three days last week covering about 4,000 properties.
This week, they’re spraying 3,000 to 4,000 more. Spraying was done early this morning (Monday) and will finish between 1 and 6 am tomorrow (Tuesday).
The pesticides pose low risks to humans and pets, but officials recommend staying indoors at least 30 minutes after spraying.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.
Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
SAN DIEGO HAS HAD SOME HIGH PROFILE ICE RAIDS IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS. AND LOCAL POLICE HAVE ALSO BEEN ON THE SCENE. PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER JAKE GOTTA WENT TO FIND OUT WHAT POLICE ARE DOING IN THOSE SITUATIONS.
SAN DIEGO POLICE HAVE BEEN ON THE SCENE AT MULTIPLE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS IN SAN DIEGO. RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT ROLE OFFICERS PLAY IN THESE FEDERAL RAIDS.
CALIFORNIA LAW DOES NOT ALLOW LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ASSIST WITH IMMIGRATION OPERATIONS.
“We are allowed to help. Now, when it comes to a situation like this, with ICE, it is to maintain public safety. Not to assist with their immigration enforcement.”
THAT WAS LIEUTENANT TRAVIS EASTER. HE SAYS OFFICERS WERE THERE TO MAINTAIN THE PEACE.
“And I know to say ‘maintain the peace’ sounds contradictory to what happened there. But really, it’s being that line in between to maintain public safety.”
BUT ERIN TSURUMOTO GRASSI FROM ALLIANCE SD SAYS THE COMMUNITY DOESN’T SEE IT THAT WAY.
Folks are kidnapping community members…And then we’re witnessing our San Diego Police Department basically be complicit, because they’re doing nothing. It looks like they are providing security for kidnappers.”
COUNCILMEMBER SEAN ELO-RIVERA PLANS TO INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE THAT WILL ESTABLISH CLEARER RULES FOR WHAT HAPPENS DURING THESE RAIDS.
“We have rights, our residents have rights, our visitors have rights. And we certainly cannot be complicit in allowing for abuses of power, for violations of rights, and, quite frankly, for fascism, to be openly invited into this city.”
Jake Gotta, KPBS NEWS
AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES LISTS SEVERAL PROGRAMS THAT WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS. THE ACTION CHANGES AN ACT PASSED DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION THAT EXTENDED FEDERAL PUBLIC BENEFITS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT LEGAL STATUS. REPORTER TANIA THORNE LOOKS INTO HOW IT COULD AFFECT ONE LOCAL ORGANIZATION..
Among the impacted programs is… Head Start… a school readiness program for young children from low income families..
"head start has been in existence well over 60 years. In our 60 year history we have never had to collect or determine immigration or citizenship status for our clients, for our students."
Damon Carson is the executive vice president at the Neighborhood House Association, a multi service provider in San Diego. While the HHS announcement says the revised policy - goes into effect immediately, Carson says service providers are left with little guidance on implementation. In the announcement, HHS said they will issue further guidance to the impacted programs and opened a 30 day comment period. Tania Thorne, KPBS News
MARIJUANA HAS BEEN ON A PROHIBITION ROLLER COASTER FOR A LONG TIME. BUT IN THE PAST 20 YEARS, IT HAS BEEN LEGALIZED FOR MEDICINAL AND RECREATIONAL USE. SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE SPOKE TO GENETIC SCIENTISTS TRYING TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF CANNABIS.
The cannabis plant, a native to Asia, has been used for millenia as a mind altering drug and a medicine for many ailments. Prohibition in the U.S. forced it underground but never prevented its cultivation or hybridization. At San Diego’s Salk Institute, professor Todd Michael genetically sequenced 193 strains of Cannabis to understand just what it’s capable of.
“We have this very important crop that people have been using for thousands of years and people know very little about it. Turns out what we discovered is the plant has a massive amount of potential that we have really just started to understand and really build the tools to try to tap into.”
Michael says he’s sequenced thousands of plants and cannabis is the most interesting and various. And he wants to understand the plant’s many dways of making cannabinoids. Those are the chemical compounds that can alter our mind and body.
The best known is THC, which makes you high. But there are many more cannabinoids, created by a common molecular pathway. What Michael calls the end product… requires a lot of acronyms to describe.
All these cannabinoids that we want. We can actually manipulate this pathway and make many different types of cannabinoids which we now call minor cannabinoids.”
Those cannabinoids, which are not psychoactive, interact with a set of human receptors, called the endo-cannabinoid system. Some minor cannabinoids have proven to be pretty powerful. CBD can control epileptic seizures. Anecdotal evidence shows it helps treat anxiety and chronic pain.
UC San Diego recently studied whether CBD could reduce disruptive behavior in boys with severe autism. Igor Grant, director of UCSD’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, said the results of the study were not definitive, but they were encouraging.
“About two thirds of the kids who got CBD were rated as improved overall by the clinicians, and only a third that got placebo were seen as improved overall.”
The search for effective health-enhancing cannabinoids has taken root in the private actor. Phylos Bioscience, based in Oregon, breeds many varieties of cannabis that can be grown from seed.
Alisha Holloway is the chief scientific officer at Phylos. She says one cannabinoid with a pretty good story is THC-V. That’s THC minus a couple of carbon atoms. It’s been called diet weed because it gives you kinda the opposite of the munchies. Holloway says Phylos did a clinical trial that did show THC-V was energizing and reduced the appetite. So they bred a plant with plenty of it.
“And worked on identifying genetic markers that could help us select for plants with higher levels of THC-V. And we developed those plants that now have 20 percent THC-V.”
There is a lot of excitement around cannabis these days. Hemp production is legal again, thanks to changes to the US Farm Bill.
Igor Grant, at UCSD, wonders if cannabis deserves all the attention. He says many plants have molecules that could interact well in humans. Maybe we’ve discovered them in pot because its psychoactive effects have captured our attention.
“And we as humans, throughout recorded history have sought to change how we feel. Right? And so cannabis is one way to do that. Alcohol is another way to do that. Opioids are yet another way.”
Plant geneticist Todd Michael disagrees. He says the relationship between cannabis and cannabinoid receptors in the brain and the body make this plant different.
“I would say that it’s more than just that we like to get high. I would say there’s this very intimate relationship between this plant that makes something that invades not only our consciousness but our well-being.”
Michael says cannabis is also easy to grow, producing high yields with minimal treatment. That means it’s good for producing other things like hemp fiber or cooking oil. SOQ.
A SAN DIEGO NAVY COMMANDER WHO HELPED EVACUATE THOUSANDS OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES HAS DIED.
IN 1975, VERNON JUMPER WAS THE AIR BOSS ON THE U-S-S MIDWAY DURING THE FALL OF SAIGON. HE HELPED COORDINATE THE MASSIVE HELICOPTER EVACUATION AS DOZENS OF HELICOPTERS CIRCLED THE CARRIER DURING THE EVACUATION.
IN 2015 HE TOLD KPBS IT WAS THE REFUGEES THEY HELPED THAT MATTERED IN HIS STORY.
“And I sing the praises, all the praises to the Vietnamese. Because they settled in our country and really became great citizens, hard working people there. They're successful and I'm so proud of them.”
MORE RECENTLY, JUMPER SERVED AS A DOCENT ON THE USS MIDWAY MUSEUM.
JUMPER DIED AT HIS HOME IN LA MESA JULY 4TH. HE WAS 93.
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 Monday.