Wildfire weather conditions could prompt power shutoffs

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz. It’s Wednesday, January 8th.

Wildfire weather conditions could lead to power shutoffs.

More on that next. But first, let’s do the headlines.

Santa Ana winds and low humidity are increasing the risk of fire in the county’s mountains and valleys.

Alex Tardy from the National Weather Service says Santa Ana winds often occur in January…

“What is unusual is how dry we are so far this year.”

CAL FIRE and the National Weather Service say the warning will last through tomorrow (Thursday).

Winds will be at their strongest this morning and are expected to weaken in the afternoon.

But strong gusts are also expected on Thursday.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer will continue as acting chair for the Board of Supervisors.

Lawson-Remer is filling in for Nora Vargas. The former supervisor announced last month that she would not serve a second term.

The board aimed to appoint a permanent chair on Monday, but failed.

Lawson-Remer and Supervisor Jim Desmond both went for the position. But, neither were chosen because of a tie vote.

The board will decide on January 14th whether to hold a special election or appoint someone to fill Vargas’s seat.

San Diego Wave F-C announced Jonas Eidevall as head coach for the 20-25 season.

The Club has been through two interim coaches since former head coach Casey Stoney was fired.

Eidevall previously managed Arsenal Women and led the club to top-three finishes in the Women’s Super League (WSL) for three years in a row.

Wave F-C’s first game of the preseason is February 16th.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

AS DANGEROUS WILDFIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS CONTINUE, S-D-G&E IS MONITORING CONDITIONS FOR POSSIBLE PUBLIC SAFETY POWER SHUTOFFS TO PREVENT WILDFIRES FROM DOWNED POWER LINES.

NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN TALKED TO ONE RESIDENT WHO’S PREPPING FOR AN OUTAGE.

Like many of her neighbors in Ramona … Macaire Fritchey is doing the best that she can to prepare for a power shutoff. “Just got lots of, like, dry, good food. So nothing that needs to be, like, cooked and not, you know, refrigerated and things like that.” Last month, during a strong Santa Ana wind event … her power was out for two days. “We had to throw out tons of food.” This time she’s more prepared. Her neighbors gave her a generator. "We are fortunate to have that, but we aren’t, you know, 100% sure how it's going to work out. And haven't really used the generator before because I’m newer to the area." SDG&E says this Santa Ana event is a prolonged one and urged residents to prepare for possible long outages. Alexander Nguyen, KPBS News.

Firefighting crews from northern California are here as Santa Ana winds bring risky conditions. Reporter Katie Anastas says schools in Ramona and Julian have canceled class today [Wednesday].

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning through Thursday for San Diego County’s mountains and inland valleys. Brent Pascua is a battalion chief for CAL FIRE."Our brush is dry. The humidities are down. And now we have this wind event that's a prime recipe for a large wildfire." Cal Fire San Diego has extra crews, engines, bulldozers and water tenders ready…along with 10 engines from Northern California. Pascua says 95% of wildfires are caused by people. To avoid creating sparks, he says, don’t mow dry vegetation, make sure chains aren’t dragging while towing, and don’t park in dry grass. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

There are over 1 thousand-300 alcohol-related cancer deaths in California each year. With the surgeon general’s push for cancer warning labels on alcohol, some people may be rethinking their drinking habits. Health reporter Heidi de Marco shares expert tips for cutting back.

For those looking to cut back, Dr. Aaron Meyer, a psychiatrist at UC San Diego Health, says the first step is tracking how much you drink. “Some people underestimate how much they drink. So, keeping track of your alcohol intake over the course of a week or two before you're deciding to do that.” Meyer recommends starting small, especially if you’re a heavy drinker. Sudden withdrawal can be dangerous and should be done with medical guidance. “I think there's a lot of pursuit of, you know, just being able to quit cold turkey and then be done with alcohol forever. I think people underestimate the coercive effects of alcohol and how difficult it can be.” Research shows tools like drink-tracking apps can help people better understand their drinking habits and identify potential risks. A 2017 study also found that just 11 minutes of mindfulness reduced alcohol consumption in heavy drinkers from one week to another. Meyer says there are also screening tools health care providers use to assess harmful drinking. “I think dry January can be like a very effective reset button, and an opportunity to be more mindful about your alcohol consumption.” Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

The hit podcast “S-Town” profiled the life of a man named John B. Mclemore, before he died by suicide. Public Matters reporter Amita Sharma spoke to the podcast's host, Brian Reed, about how its aftermath changed his views on journalism.

So Brian S-Town was a smash hit in 2017, but it also sparked a lawsuit from McLemore's estate and criticism from fellow journalists who claimed you exploited a private man's distress to tell a good story. You say the experience made you rethink journalism. Why? And what conclusions did you draw from that rethinking? I rethought journalism because the people who were suing me, who are not related to John B. McLemore in any way, were claiming in court that S-Town, this thing that I'd poured years into as a journalist, was not journalism legally, and that put me in a position of having to suddenly really think about, ‘wait, what is journalism exactly?’ And try to prove that and explain it in a legal case. And just having to go through that exercise, I don't know if anyone has had to do that before about their own profession, whatever you do. That got me looking at all the fights we're in so often as a society, politically, culturally, and I just started noticing a lot of those boiled down to, disagreements over what journalism is, who should get to be a journalist, what story should be told, what stories should be emphasized, how we should check the truth or not. And I just feel like those questions flare up everyday and so that’s what made me want to turn that lens outward. So you now have a new podcast on journalism called Question Everything. So let me pick your brain on some recent journalism controversies. I'm not going to hit them all, but the owners of both the Washington Post and the LA Times nixed editorials endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president and today Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company will stop fact checking and use community notes instead. What do these moves say about the media in today's political environment? I think, you know, from a high level, it looks bad, it looks like powerful companies are doing things in abeyance of an incoming presidential administration, which is never a good feeling, especially from newspapers like the LA Times and The Washington Post. So it just looks like cowardice a bit, you know, which is not what you want to see from people putting out the news. This is a very wonky answer, but I would encourage, you know, I think that a conversation about something called Section 230 is warranted again, this is something we've been exploring on our show. It's this regulation that basically makes it so that social media platforms like Facebook and others are not liable for defamation, for instance, for the things that people say on their platforms, they have special immunity, and I think that, that's something that should be revisited. Why shouldn’t they have the same kind of liability that a newspaper would have. Like, if I were to say something libelous to you right now on your show, you guys could be libel for that. But if I were to write the same thing on Facebook, Facebook would not be. I think that’s something that should be revisited. I am a first amendment absolutist but that is very much in line with First Amendment principles, you know. So, I have to ask you this question. Has Truth lost its value in American society? It's interesting. I think the idea of truth has not, I mean, what's the name of President-elect Trump's social media platform? It's Truth Social. So the idea is very powerful actually. The idea that the truth is being told, it's just that, you know, a confluence of forces, including bad actors, have made it so that truth and the ability to figure out what it actually is and trust the people telling it to us, has been corrupted. So  I think the concept is still powerful which gives me, I guess, some kind of hope. I think people want to have information, to be informed, but they’re being led astray, I guess. Locally here in San Diego County we have seen the paper of record, the San Diego Union Tribune, go from 400 journalists in the 1990s to fewer than 100 now. Given this level of downsizing and general public distrust of the media, can journalists still make a difference? Local journalists can, yeah, I mean, it's definitely, it’s an overwhelming and dispiriting moment, but I do think some of the most exciting and impactful journalism does come out of local outlets, but I also think there needs to be bigger thinking and more innovative thinking, you know, just about what journalism looks like, you know, how to marshal the principles behind journalism and other venues, you know, ideas of accuracy and accountability and transparency. And how to take those values and kind of bring them to other forums. So, I think we both need to think big on a macroscale while also journalists need to keep doing the good work. Brian, thank you so much for speaking with me today. I really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks so much for having me. 

The funeral for President Jimmy Carter will be held Thursday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D-C. The organist for the service has a special connection to San Diego. Reporter John Carroll tells us he’ll be in town this weekend to play one of the finest church organs in the area.

That’s Washington National Cathedral organist Thomas Sheehan playing the Cathedral’s great organ. On Thursday, after the state funeral for President Jimmy Carter, Sheehan won’t be staying in Washington for long. “I go home for a couple of seconds, grab my suitcase, and get a ride out to Dallas, get on the plane, and then up in San Diego around 9pm that night.” And that’s the new organ at St. James By The Sea Episcopal Church in La Jolla. “This will be my first recital appearance on that organ, which will be a lot of fun.” It may be his first recital on the organ, but it’s not his first time playing it. He’s intimately familiar with the instrument… because he helped design it. St. James organist Alex Benestelli has known Sheehan since their freshman year in college.  He’s excited to welcome his old friend back to San Diego. “Tom is one of the great talents of our generation, and we’re just thrilled that he’s made the time to come out.” The concert is this Sunday at 5:30pm. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.  It’s a chance to hear one of the finest organists in the country, right here in San Diego. John Carrol, KPBS News.

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 Wednesday.