What’s new in the city’s expanded effort to clear up encampments along freeways
<<<HEADLINES>>>
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s FRIDAY, JULY 31ST>>>> [ WE’LL TELL YOU ABOUT THE CITY’S EXPANDED EFFORTS TO CLEAR UP ENCAMPMENTS ALONG OUR FREEWAYS ]More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
########
114 NEW APARTMENTS ARE COMING TO LA MESA
A FIVE-STORY DEVELOPMENT CALLED CITYMARK PALM IS PLANNED TO FILL A VACANT LOT ON THE CORNER OF PALM AND ALLISON AVENUE
THE LA MESA CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE PLAN UNANIMOUSLY, BUT SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS WORRY THE DEVELOPMENT WILL BRING MORE PARKING PROBLEMS TO THE AREA…
CURRENT PLANS SHOW 72 PARKING SPACES WOULD BE CREATED TO ACCOMPANY 114 APARTMENTS ABOVE GROUND FLOOR RETAIL SPACES.
THE PROJECT FALLS UNDER A STATE LAW WHICH WAIVES MINIMUM PARKING REQUIREMENTS ON NEW DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE WITHIN A HALF MILE OF A MAJOR PUBLIC TRANSIT STOP
########
CHARGERS LEGEND BILLY RAY SMITH JR HAS DIED. HE WAS 64 YEARS OLD.
IN A STATEMENT, HIS FAMILY SAID SMITH HAD DEMENTIA CAUSED BY C-T-E...A BRAIN DISEASE LINKED TO REPETITIVE HEAD TRAUMA
THE CHARGERS SELECTED SMITH FIFTH OVERALL IN THE 1983 NFL DRAFT. HE PLAYED ALL 10 SEASONS OF HIS N-F-L CAREER WITH THE CHARGERS
SMITH THEN BECAME A SPORTS BROADCASTER ON TV, RADIO AND ONLINE
########
ANOTHER EXTREME HEAT WARNING IS IN EFFECT NOW, THROUGH 8 P-M SUNDAY
THIS WARNING IS FOR OUR DESERTS, MOUNTAINS AND, VALLEYS. COASTAL AREAS ARE UNDER A HEAT ADVISORY
FORECASTERS SAY TO EXPECT AND PREPARE FOR DANGEROUSLY HOT CONDITIONS AS INLAND TEMPS COULD REACH TRIPLE DIGITS
CITY PARK RANGERS SAY ITS SAFER TO SCHEDULE YOUR HIKES EARLY IN THE MORNING OR LATER IN THE EVENING
STAY WELL HYDRATED, STAY OUT OF DIRECT SUN FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME AND PLEASE LEAVE PETS AT HOME DURING DAY-TIME HEAT
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
<<<UNDERWRITING BREAK>>
######
<<<MUSIC BUMP INTO A BLOCK>>
##########
THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO HAS RENEWED AN AGREEMENT WITH CAL-TRANS TO KEEP CLEARING HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS BY FREEWAYS
PENNER FELLOW EMMY BURRUS REPORTS
FWYCAMPS 1 (eb) TRT 1:21 SOQ
_______
The city will continue clearing homeless encampments along a five-mile stretch of freeways near downtown San Diego, mostly along I-5. But now, they’ll also remove graffiti, weeds, debris and trim trees.
Franklin Coopersmith is with the city’s environmental services department.
13;49;50;17 - 13;49;55;27
you know, if there's graffiti on the side over there, get rid of that as we do and try to make the whole area look better.
Since the agreement started a year ago, Coopersmith says the city has removed more than 413 tons of trash.
City crews post signs at least 48 hours in advance, telling people who live in an encampment to clear out. Then when the crew shows up, an officer with the neighborhood policing department will offer them services, before they have to leave the area.
But some homeless advocates say that clearing encampments isn’t a solution. Brandon Greene is with the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
00:05:05:11 - 00:05:20:15
“If it's not designed in a way that is to get people housing, economic mobility and stability, then it's not really solving the underlying issue”
He says clearing encampments can make it harder for service providers to find and connect with unhoused people.
In the agreement’s first year, the city says 115 people exited homelessness into housing, including 19 people into permanent housing.
Emmy Burrus, KPBS News
##########
AS SUMMER HEATS UP, COVID 19 CASES ARE ALSO BEGINNING TO CLIMB IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY
HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS FOR THOSE MOST AT RISK THERE’S A NEW TREATMENT OPTION.
COVIDPILL 1 TRT 0:59 SOC
San Diego County reported an increase in COVID cases last week.
DR. AHMED SALEM
Looks like we're going to have another mini-surge…towards the end of the summer.
Dr. Ahmed Salem is a pulmonologist with Sharp HealthCare. He says there’s now a new option to help prevent illness after exposure.
It’s called Xocova.
DR. AHMED SALEM
This is a post-exposure, so you know you've been exposed to somebody with COVID, you don't have to be symptomatic, and it's a 5-day regimen, so you take the pills to hopefully not develop full-blown infection.
According to the drug's manufacturer, a clinical trial found Xocova reduced the risk of developing COVID symptoms by 67 percent if started within 72 hours of contact.
DR. AHMED SALEM
If you are in one of those vulnerable populations, you're immunocompromised, you're elderly, you have multiple medical comorbidities…then this would be beneficial.
The list price for the seven-tablet regimen is about $1,400 dollars….though what patients pay will depend on insurance coverage.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
##########
A FEDERAL JUDGE DISMISSED A LAWSUIT THIS WEEK CHALLENGING A CALIFORNIA LAW AIMED AT CRACKING DOWN ON ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS.
CAP-RADIO’S LAURA FITZGERALD HAS MORE.
ANTISEMITISM 1 (cprn) (0:40) SOQ
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The law establishes new educational oversight by creating an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator. It also bans any instructional materials that are discriminatory.
Members of the Legislative Jewish Caucus pushed for the legislation, citing an uptick in antisemitism in California schools.
But opponents, including some teachers, students, and civil rights organizations like the ACLU, warned the law is overly broad and would stifle classroom discussion about Palestine … an argument the judge rejected.
A middle school teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District brought the lawsuit against Governor Gavin Newsom and the state, arguing the law violated her First Amendment rights.
In Sacramento, I’m Laura Fitzgerald
##########
MURALS HONORING SAN DIEGO'S AFRICAN AMERICAN AND CHICANO MUSIC LEGENDS … AND SAN DIEGO'S BLACK PANTHER PARTY … HAVE BEEN UNVEILED ON A BUILDING WITH A SPECIAL PLACE IN LOCAL HISTORY.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS THE TEAM BEHIND THE MURALS HOPES THEY OFFER LESSONS FROM PAST GENERATIONS AND ARE A CATALYST TO REVIVE THE ARTS IN THE AREA.
__________________________________________________
ELKSMURAL SOQ 3:56
*COMMERCIAL AVE NATS … fades to ambi throughout**
Just east of San Diego's downtown core … the trolley and the busy Imperial Avenue and Commercial Street corridors create the rhythm of an urban community.
*nat pop*
It's here in Logan Heights at Clementine McDuff Elks Lodge where muralists are honoring the musical legacy and civil rights history of this neighborhood.
One of the muralists helping to paint that history is Mario Torero of Barrio Artists Partnership.
SOT 3185
Mario Torero | Muralist
21:07:50 - 21:07:59 (:09)
“We are at Commercial and Hensley. Kind of the crux of the whole soul-roots of this area.”
Torero is also one of the founding muralists of Chicano Park.
He says the Elk’s building now features murals of community leaders … and the jazz, soul, and garage band musicians who shaped Imperial Avenue's music scene …
Torero was raised around the community and remembers segregation as a teenager.
SOT 3185
Mario Torero | Muralist
21:06:47 - 21:07:00 (:13)
“We moved in an area which eventually part of the black section of San Diego, and I was forced to go to Memorial Junior High. The black school at the time in 1960.”
This Elks Lodge was a stop on the Chitlin' Circuit … part of the network of venues where Black musicians performed during segregation.
Many of the artists honored in the mural are locals or those who played there in person.
SOT 3185
Mario Torero | Muralist
21:08:12 - 21:08:25 (:13)
“I played in this guy here back in 1964, 1965. I was playing with “Arlene and the Proteens,” the number one black band, dance band in San Diego. We played here, I opened up for Etta James with the group."
In addition to Etta James, other big names that played the venue include legendary San Diego musician George Semper … and global stars, like Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole.
SOT 3185
Mario Torero | Muralist
21:08:32 - 21:08:38 (:06)
“And now that it's no longer the Black section of town they say, we still have to know the history.”
The building also serves as a hub for the San Diego Black Panther Party. A tribute to them was created by a visiting LA-based aerosol crew …
Renard “Hawk” Hilliard is both an Elks Lodge and local Black Panther member.
SOT 3188
Renard “Hawk” Hilliard | Elks Lodge and Black Panther Member
21:35:40 - 21:35:50 (:10)
“We had a connection with the black panthers first – the original black panthers which works with the Elks doing food distribution.”
Hilliard has been with both organizations for less than five years, but grew up in the area. He says this Elks Lodge has been at the same location since 1955.
SOT 3188
Renard “Hawk” Hilliard | Elks Lodge and Black Panther member
21:38:56 - 21:39:10 (:14)
“For the most part Black entertainers were limited on where they could go. This was the one space that catered to the Black community and provided opportunity for entertainers to come”
The mural isn't finished yet. There were some last minute changes made on the Commercial Street side of the building.
“Hawk” says the recent death of their friend and Elks Lodge leader Daniel Davis gives the work extra meaning. They plan to display him and other members on the exterior walls.
SOT 3189
Renard “Hawk” Hilliard | Elks Lodge and Black Panther member
21:47:40 - 21:47:59 (:19)
“It was quite a surprise that he passed. I had just spoken with him two days before and we were just discussing the agreements we had for the murals on the building and to do something to represent the Elks on the building.”
Hilliard hopes that by documenting and painting the history of this neighborhood … it will inspire the artists and activists of today.
SOT 3189
Renard “Hawk” Hilliard | Elks Lodge and Black Panther member
21:44:51 - 21:45:02 (:09)
“...we want to bring music back, we just want to bring community together and just emphasize all the different things we do in the black community.”
*music nats**
The murals are part of the Imperial Avenue Legacy Project, which is funded by grants from the Prebys Foundation and the California Arts Council. JA KPBS News.
##########
HALLOWEEN IS MONTHS AWAY. BUT ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO HAS FOUND THE PERFECT PLAY TO SATISFY YOUR CRAVING FOR SCARY FUN. IT’S A HORROR COMEDY CALLED ‘DIE ALREADY!’
DIEALREADY (ba) 1:12 SOQ
During the pandemic, Michael Mizerany started writing short horror plays as a distraction. Now he has developed one of them into a full length play…
CLIP: Why won't you die already?
“Die Already!” is a horror comedy that affectionately riffs on genre tropes that have made Mizerany jump since he was a kid.
MICHAEL MIZERANY I am a jumper. And it's the dumbest things. It's like a cat in a closet. I'm like,.
But now he smartly plays off the formula with both humor and horror.
[00:10:28.05] - MICHAEL MIZERANY I like the tropes because I get to approach them in a way that's out of the box. I'm calling the show like Scream, but gayer.
So you won’t find a final girl but you will find a final boy and a character who knows all the tropes because he’s a horror writer.
DIE ALREADY! I've been working on this for a long time, Branigan. The setup, the characters, the location. You are always going to be the lead. The audience needs to believe the peril. So does the cast. This is where you stop being a person and start being a scene.
Die Already will be slaying audiences this weekend and next at Diversionary Black Box.
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
##########
AS WE DO FOR YOU EACH AND EVERY FRIDAY, HERE ARE SOME WEEKEND EVENT IDEAS THAT YOU AND YOURS CAN TAKE PART IN THIS WEEKEND
ON FRIDAY, CITY BALLET INVITES YOU TO JOIN THEM FOR BALLET UNDER THE STARS
YOU CAN ENJOY A FREE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE AND THERE'S EVEN A PRE-PERFORMANCE PICNIC WITH REFRESHMENTS
YOU DO NEED A TICKET. YOU CAN VISIT CITY BALLET DOT ORG FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFO
ON SATURDAY MORNING, THERE'S A HORTICULTURAL TOUR HAPPENING AT BALBOA PARK'S BOTANICAL BUILDING
THE TOURS HAPPEN EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH
IT GIVES VISITORS INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE ON THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF
PLANTS AND FLOWERS INSIDE OF THE RECENTLY-RENOVATED BOTANICAL BUILDING
AND ON SUNDAY, IN ENCINITAS, THE CARDIFF DOG DAYS OF SUMMER KICKS OFF
IT'S A FREE EVENT THAT'S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
THE EVENT FEATURES PET ADOPTION OPPORTUNITIES, DOG-RELATED VENDORS, A LIBATION LOUNGE, LIVE MUSIC AND DOG CONTESTS
NEW THIS YEAR IS DOG YOGA AS WELL AS A CORGI AND DACHSHUND RUN !
VISIT CARDIFF 101 DOT COM FOR MORE INFO
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
That’s it for the podcast today. Today’s pod was edited by Ted Robbins and 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.
