What local Catholics think of the new pope

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, May 12th.>>>>

Local Catholics tell us what they think of the new Pope.

More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######

Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Logan Heights has joined churches across the country in suing the federal government.

They want to protect schools, hospitals and churches from immigration enforcement.

For years, those were considered off-limits for raids and arrests.

But the Trump administration ended that policy in January.

The legal complaint says, that has turned sacred spaces into quote “sources of extreme anxiety rather than places of healing.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe calls itself an “immigrant parish.” Until recently, it ran a migrant shelter out of its community room.

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National City’s 20-22 Teacher of the Year has been sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison.

36-year-old Jacqueline Ma pled guilty to four sex crimes against pre-teen children.

She taught at Lincoln Acres Elementary School before being arrested in 20-23.

It’s not an isolated case.

Several more San Diego area school teachers and administrators have been charged with sex crimes against minors in the two years since.

Ma will be eligible for parole after 30 years.

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This Thursday is Bike Anywhere Day in San Diego County.

It promotes cycling as a fun, sustainable, healthy way to get around, that can ease traffic and improve air quality.

More than 100 pit stops around the county will offer snacks and activities from 6:30 to 9:30 in the morning on Thursday.

You can pre-register at SANDAG dot org slash bike day to get a free t-shirt and a chance to win an e-bike.

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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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MANY PEOPLE IN SAN DIEGO ARE JOINING OTHERS AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATING THE ELECTION OF THE NEW POPE, LEO THE 14TH.

REPORTER JOHN CARROLL TALKED TO SOME YOUNG CATHOLICS AND FOUND OUT ABOUT A SPECIAL CONNECTION THE NEW PONTIFF HAS TO SAN DIEGO.

WHEN HE WAS A PRIEST AND PRIOR TO THE ORDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE, FR. ROBERT PREVOST VISITED ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL IN 2012 ON THE OCCASION OF THE SCHOOL’S 90TH ANNIVERSARY.  ST. AUGUSTINE’S PRINCIPAL JAMES HORNE RELEASED A STATEMENT WHICH SAYS IN PART… “To now see him step onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the 267th Pope is nothing short of humbling.  A fellow Augustinian and man of deep faith, his presence at Saints left a lasting impression - and now his papacy begins with that same spirit of service, wisdom, and humility.” ON THE CAMPUS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO, WE FOUND A MIXTURE OF JOY AND HOPE SURROUNDING THE ELECTION OF CHICAGO NATIVE ROBERT PREVOST TO THE PAPACY.   HERE’S FIRST-YEAR STUDENT ALLAN HICKERSON. “I think that he’s a great choice.  Not a lot of people saw him as the choice for Pope.” USD VICE PRESIDENT FOR MISSION INTEGRATION, MICHAEL LOVETTE-COLYER SAYS THE FORMER CARDINAL PREVOST IS THE PERFECT CHOICE TO BE POPE. “Leo the 14th is from the United States, but he’s only spent one third of his life here, so he’s not only a US citizen, he’s also a citizen of Peru, very much a multicultural, multilingual person.  One of my colleagues described him as an American Pope with a Latin American heart.” LOVETTE-COLYER SAYS LEO WILL HAVE A SAY IN WHO THE NEW CATHOLIC BISHOP OF SAN DIEGO IS.  THE POSITION WAS LEFT VACANT AFTER POPE FRANCIS REASSIGNED CARDINAL MCELROY TO THE ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON.  JC, KPBS NEWS.

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HERBAL MEDICINES DISCOVERED LONG AGO BY NATIVE AMERICANS ARE RECOGNIZED TODAY FOR THEIR HEALING POWERS.

SCI-TECH REPORTER THOMAS FUDGE MET WITH MEMBERS OF LOCAL TRIBES ABOUT HOW THEY SUSTAINED THEIR CULTURE, FINDING MEDICINES AND TOOLS IN THE SAN DIEGO ENVIRONMENT.

William Pink is an old guy wearing a grey hoodie and a crushed hat lined with small pins. He holds a stick with a string coming out the other end. The string holds a row of wooden rings. This is an acorn ring game.  These are the acorn caps from the interior white oak. And the idea of the game is to catch the rings (pause) Got one. I’m William Pink I’m descended from the Agua Caliente Cupeno from Warner Springs. In my 20s I went around and visited a lot of the elders and trying to learn things as much as I could from them. We were losing a lot of information so I spent a lot of time working with a lot of different elders, up and down the state of California. We’re on the campus of Cal State San Marcos at their ethnobotanical garden. Pink and I are joined by Bonnie Bade, a professor of anthropology. Southern California Plants are so powerful because they provide medicine, food construction materials. Tools. What is technology? It’s how were certain things are made that you have to employ certain tools to accomplish certain things. There were no metal objects, a lot of these were done with no metal tools at all. Pink scrapes the side of a narrow wooden stalk with a sharp rock. So these are stalks from the dogbane plant. It was one of the major sources of fiber for textiles in the native american community. There are two ways of preparing the dogbane. One is kinda blistering the bark off. You don’t want to scrape it. Because if you scrape it you destroy the fiber. Pink says the fiber was also used to make fishing nets and anchor lines. He crushes the stalks with his fingers and removes the fibers. What are you doing now? I’m spinning the cordage. And I’m going to let you try and break it. So I can get you on film. I always offer to pay 20 dollars to anyone who can break it. I wrap the fibrous cord around my fists and pull with all my strength. It doesn’t break. “I go home 20 dollars richer today.” I’m Mel Vernon. I’m the captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians. We’re a Luseno Tribe in the Oceanside Vista Area. I meet Vernon on a protected plot of land in Vista, surrounded by tract homes and mountain peaks, where we find a sacred stone called Indian Rock. We’re in a place here in Vista. Undisclosed. Our tribe are the stewards of this big rock behind us called Indian Rock. Although I’m sure it had another name in its time. There were village sites around here and it has the red ochre drawings on it from young women who had performed their puberty rites. To become part of the tribe they would make their mark on this rock. My name is Michael Cerda. I’m a tribal member of the San Luis Rey band of Mission Indians. I’ve been kinda known in the tribe as a plant person. “We have about 65 plants here on this lot and about a third of them are medicinal. And science today is saying that our ancestors were using them in the correct way. And sure enough there’s chemicals in there that do the healing. Anti-inflammatories. Antibacterial. Like California Sagebrush, Artemisia Californica. He says it’s an anti-inflamatory and a disinfectant. He stand in front of a bush with yellow flowers. (Tell us about this plant that’s behind you. What’s it called and what does it mean to your people?)  People know it from the common name of Elderberry. Mexican elderberry. It’s medicinal. To our people it’s sacred because it’s saved some lives. It relieves digestive issues. Breathing respiratory issues. Vernon adds that medicine does have a somewhat different meaning among Native Americans. Healing isn’t always something that comes from a drug. I also comes from your mind and spirit. There’s medicine there we all have that’s been disconnected from ourselves in many ways. So the medicine people, and even today. You have something that’s wrong and you think it’s wrong. And somebody says no, it’s just this. And you feel better about yourself. And that’s a healing. Pretty much an instant healing. Indian rock has become a hangout for local kids and the graffiti on Indian rock is vandalism. Michael Cerda says it’s hurtful and disrespectful. They planted poison oak around the rock and cactus around the property’s fence in an effort to keep people away. 

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CARLSBAD HAS A LONGSTANDING BAN ON NEW DRIVE-THRUS IN THE CITY.

BUT AS NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN TELLS US … THE CITY COUNCIL RECENTLY APPROVED A POLICY THAT COULD PAVE THE WAY FOR MORE.

Since 1998, the only drive-thrus in Carlsbad have been the ones that were already there before the ban. Recently, the City Council voted 3-2 for a policy that would allow more without lifting the ban. It lets the city issue conditional-use permits and zoning amendments for individual locations.  Brett Schanzenbach with the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce calls that winning the battle but not the war because there’s no guarantee the permits will be approved. “This particular avenue that they've chosen, is definitely going to, only have limited people even start it because of the time involved, the money involved and how the onus is all on the business itself.” He says some developers with the capacity to open new drive-thrus are hesitating. Alexander Nguyen, KPBS News.

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WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF SOMEONE GAVE YOU A MILLION DOLLARS, NO STRINGS ATTACHED?

IN 20-21, A LOCAL NON PROFIT ACTUALLY GOT A MILLION DOLLARS FROM BILLIONAIRE MACKENZIE SCOTT.

REPORTER MELISSA MAE TOLD YOU ABOUT THE DAVID’S HARP FOUNDATION WHEN THEY FIRST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE DONATION.

SHE RECENTLY CHECKED IN TO SEE HOW THEY SPENT THEIR SEVEN FIGURE GIFT.

“Welcome to the Transformation Home! Come on in, let’s go.” That’s Adrian Cantero with David’s Harp Foundation. He has lived at Transformation house for the last eight months. He says it represents something bigger. “A true loving ecosystem, like a thriving. You know, I think I look at like plants. There's a lot of plants around here. And I think if you look at a plant that, you know, might be dehydrated or doesn't have enough food. You put it in an ecosystem that's thriving and is able to transform it.” He says the Transformation House ecosystem creates a safe community for youth exiting the juvenile justice system, helping prepare them for the future. “What I've been able to see is through a lot of students, they're able to come in and not really understand what they need, but are able to be transformed by community and love and stability in this place while also setting them up for, for the future.” Cantero is the house manager, helping residents learn how to live independently. “What it looks like to prep food and actually make your own food, that's a thing. Doing laundry all the time. What does that look like? Cleaning up, doing house chores. And so sometimes as a young person, it's hard to like do all these things. And so you need just somebody to be like, ‘Hey, all right guys, we're going to do this.’” It’s all part of a program run by the David’s Harp Foundation. In addition to giving youth at risk of homelessness a place to live, they teach them essential skills and job training through music and media. “Building relationships through art, earning relationships and then walking kids back into the community with a trusted adult, a mentor to help them walk them through the process of probation and and really, that's the heart of what this is.” David’s Harp is Brandon Steppe’s vision. “The challenges of young people as they come back into community from juvenile detention are a lot. Everything from literally from housing to, you know, workforce and job things, but also really connection and relationship.” In 2021 billionaire MacKenzie Scott selected David’s Harp to receive a one million dollar gift, no strings attached. At first Steppe didn’t know what to do with it. Then one day… “So I was driving downtown, coming down the 94 freeway, coming to our Biz Pod program, where young people are building businesses. And at the time, a little over 60% of those kids were experiencing homelessness. And so you had kids that were coming, showing up, bringing their full self, investing in the skills that they needed to run businesses, but having to figure out where to sleep at night. Sleeping in cars, sleeping in friend’s couches and couch surfing. And it just dawned on me like, we need to be able to build an infrastructure of where these kids can really launch out from my house into their own housing. We needed our own house, so that's what we did. We purchased a home.” Currently four youth live at the house and there are plans for expanding it into a village!  “They're able to pay $500 a month in rent. That $500 is saved for them in escrow and after 12 months, they get all of it back as first, last and move in on their own space.” While the million dollars went towards purchasing and renovating Transformation House, the Foundation has also grown. “We went from 2000ft² downstairs to 45, almost 5000ft² upstairs, here in Moniker Warehouse and in the East Village.” Before the donation, the foundation served 220 youth each year. Now, they’re up to more than 500. “Including 95% of young people in the justice system. So the program is doubled, but it's also doubled in output.” They’ve also doubled their staff, including graduates of the program…like Riley Reinas. “I have no idea where I would be without David's Harp. Like, kind of just from being locked up in East Mesa, like, I kind of just had, like, a vision of what I wanted to do, and I had all my goals written down, like I really wanted to be here.” Reinas has grown a lot since we met him in 20-21. He’s since graduated from high school and now serves as a full time artist mentor for David’s Harp! “I really just want to help kids who are kind of going through the struggle and just know that, like, is better on this side of the fence and that you could kind of change and like, be who you want to be and just, be positive with it you know.” Reinas produced all the beats you’ve heard in this story.  Since 2007, Steppe says the Foundation has helped thousands of youth and that million dollars has helped them have a greater impact. “What we chose to do was to go all in with young people and invest it directly in their future.” Steppe hopes one day soon the courts will consider Transformation House and the Foundation’s workforce program an official alternative for youth facing incarceration. Melissa Mae 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 Monday.