With Election Day just over a week away … in-person voting centers are now open
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s MONDAY, OCTOBER 26TH>>>> [ KPBS STOPPED BY THE COUNTY’S ELECTION OFFICE AS VOTING CENTERS ACROSS THE COUNTY ARE NOW OPEN ]More on that next. But first... the headlines ...#######
LATER TODAY, THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON A MORATORIUM TO PAUSE DATA CENTERS IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
IF PASSED, IT WOULD PAUSE ALL DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT WITHIN CITY LIMITS UNTIL THE CITY IS ABLE TO ESTABLISH ITS OWN REGULATIONS
CITY LEADERS GATHERED LATE LAST WEEK AT CITY HALL TO VOICE THEIR OPPOSITION TO A DATA CENTER BEING BUILT ON THE NAV-WAR PROPERTY IN THE MIDWAY DISTRICT
AMONG THEM, WAS COUNCIL MEMBER SEAN ELO-RIVERA WHO HAD THIS TO SAY:
ELO-RIVERA SOT :16 The project as proposed or however they want to talk about it, it's an insane thing to think would be an acceptable thing to drop into San Diego. It's outrageous it's offensive."
THE MANCHESTER FINANCIAL GROUP IS THE DEVELOPER BEHIND THE PROPOSED 400-MEGAWATT DATA CENTER
ITS DEVELOPMENT TEAM INSISTS THERE ARE NO NEGOTIATIONS OR AGREEMENTS IN PLACE AT THIS TIME
IF THE DATA CENTER WERE TO BE APPROVED, IT WOULD BE THE LARGEST ONE IN CALIFORNIA
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LAST WEEK, CALIFORNIA ASKED A FEDERAL JUDGE TO DISMISS A RECENTLY FILED LAWSUIT FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
THE LAWSUIT IS ALLEGING/ALLEGES THAT 20-THOUSAND MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT OUT TO NON CITIZENS
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WANTS THOSE BALLOTS TO BE SET ASIDE AND NOT COUNTED
ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA’S FILING IS ASKING FOR THE CASE TO BE EXPEDITED SAYING QUOTE “AT BEST, THIS LITIGATION IS A RECKLESS POLITICAL STUNT AND AT WORST, IT THREATENS TO DISENFRANCHISE THOUSAND OF CALIFORNIANS THIS ELECTION” END QUOTE
THIS NEWS COMES FOLLOWING A U-S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCEMENT CITING CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST 28 CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS. IT CLAIMS THEY WERE NOT U-S CITIZENS AND WERE ILLEGALLY REGISTERED TO VOTE
THE D-O-J IS SEEKING A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER. A HEARING SET FOR EARLY THIS WEEK
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STARTING TODAY, METROLINK IS SUSPENDING ORANGE COUNTY LINE SERVICE TO AND FROM OCEANSIDE
IT’S IN ANTICIPATION OF HIGH TIDES ALONG THE SOUTHERN ORANGE COUNTY COASTLINE
THE AGENCY SAYS THE SUSPENSION WILL RUN STARTING TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY
THIS AFFECTS SERVICE BETWEEN OCEANSIDE AND THE LAGUNA NIGUEL [NIH-GEHL]/MISSION VIEJO STATION.
ORANGE COUNTY LINE TRAINS WILL ONLY OPERATE BETWEEN LOS ANGELES UNION STATION AND LAGUNA NIGUEL/MISSION VIEJO
METROLINK ALSO SAYS IT WILL NOT PROVIDE REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE FOR PASSENGERS TRAVELING BETWEEN OCEANSIDE AND LAGUNA NIGUEL/MISSION VIEJO
WEEKEND SERVICE IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AFFECTED
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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IN-PERSON VOTING CENTERS OPENED ACROSS SAN DIEGO COUNTY OVER THE WEEKEND (SATURDAY).
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER KEVIN TREVELLYAN STOPPED BY THE COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE TO LEARN MORE.
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REGISTRAR 1 TOT (0:48) SOQ
Workers are already busy sorting ballots in the leadup to Election Day, November 3rd. And they have a lot to go through – voter turnout is one-third (33%) higher on this day compared to the last gubernatorial election in 2022.
That’s according to San Diego County Registrar Sean Brom [BRAHM], who encouraged others to vote early too.
“Not only do you avoid long lines on Election Day, voting early also helps us get out the results quicker to you on election night.”
Vote centers open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Residents will be able to drop off a mail ballot, vote in person, or fill out a same-day registration form.
“We want voting to be easy, accessible, and secure for every voter.”
Voters have until 8 p.m. on November 3rd to cast their ballot in person. Mail ballots must be postmarked by Election Day.
KT, KPBS News
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THE FORT YUMA QUECHAN [kwit-SAhN] INDIAN TRIBE IS DEMANDING AN IN-PERSON APOLOGY FROM IMPERIAL COUNTY SUPERVISOR JOHN HAWK. REPORTER KORI SUZUKI SAYS A VIDEO SURFACED LAST WEEK OF HAWK USING A RACIAL SLURboger DURING A PUBLIC MEETING.
AND A WARNING, THIS STORY CONTAINS OFFENSIVE AND DEROGATORY LANGUAGE
IVSLUR 1 (1:08) SOQ
_____________________
Hawk made the comments back in April… during a county Transportation Commission meeting.
At the meeting, Hawk talked about an earlier meeting he and other county officials had with members of the Quechan Tribe. To discuss the tribe’s concerns about a major bridge closure on their reservation. Hawk described the conversation as brutal.
SOT: GMT20260423-004527_Recording / 1:22:30
CG: John Hawk, Imperial County Supervisor
There was like 75 people there. And they took turns. I mean it was like it was brutal. I mean we felt like we were scalped.
The video of Hawk’s comments were resurfaced this week by local activist Jake Tison. Hawk is currently running for reelection.
On Wednesday, Quechan Tribe President Jonathan Koteen condemned the remarks.
In a letter, Koteen said Hawk’s comments were egregious and relied on racial stereotypes about Native people. He said the Quechan Nation wouldn’t tolerate them — especially coming from an elected official.
Koteen demanded Hawk apologize in-person… and that the county give a clear timeline for the reopening of the bridge.
Hawk and the county both apologized for his remarks this week. Hawk says he plans to deliver that in-person apology to Quechan Tribe soon.
The county says they’re currently in the process of securing funding to replace the bridge. And hope to reopen it within two years.
Kori Suzuki, KPBS News
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CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS ON VACCINES, ABORTION AND THE JANUARY SIXTH INSURRECTION HAVE DEFINED NATIONAL POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN RECENT YEARS … AND NOW PARENTS IN ONE COASTAL (OR LOCAL) SCHOOL DISTRICT ARE CONCERNED A SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE IS HIDING HER OWN FAR-RIGHT POSITIONS
MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER TAKES US DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF CONSPIRACIES PLAYING OUT IN THE SAN DIEGUITO UNIFIED HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT RACE
BOGER TRT (X:XX) SOQ
Summer Boger’s campaign website describes her as an educator, a health care practitioner and a mom. It lists priorities like academic achievement, budget accountability and college and career readiness.
It presents her as a middle-of-the-road parent just trying to help kids. But some basic research reveals a different picture…
Video1042088257.mp4: 01;49;03 - 01;59;02
Eleanor Musick
Oh, man. It was like a fire hose. There was so much information. You know, just doing a simple Google Google search with her name.
Encinitas attorney Eleanor Musick is active in progressive politics and says she’s pretty well-informed as a voter. But she was caught off guard by one of the local school board candidates for the San Dieguito Unified High School District.
Video1042088257.mp4: 00;50;19 - 001;01;18
Eleanor Musick
This name just started appearing when I had not heard of it. And so I looked it up, and the first thing I saw on social media was this photograph from Getty Images
. A woman wearing a Trump hat holds a sign in the photo that says quote “Pardon all J-6 hostages day one.” It was taken on January 21st 20-25. President Donald Trump had just taken office for the second time and immediately granted clemency to those who attacked the U.S. Capitol four years prior.
The woman is Summer Boger. The self-described holistic health practitioner is running in area three of the district. It includes Del Mar, Solana Beach and Cardiff-by-the-sea.
Musick thinks Boger’s hiding her partisan political history from voters.
Video1042088257.mp4: 05;06;01 - 05;12;09
I think that she has a fooled a lot of people and can fool a lot of people.
The school board race is non-partisan but Boger is endorsed by the county Republican party. Here opponent, Helen Doyle, is endorsed by the Democrats.
Musick put her research together and published it on Substack. It … got voters and parents in the district talking.
That’s because Boger has a long history of anti-vaccine activism.
She was early, too. She was featured in a 20-10 K-P-B-S article about the growing anti-vaccine movement among local moms.
During the COVID-19 pandemic she was among several anti-vaccine and anti-mask activists disrupting county supervisors meetings.
APR 5: 01;53;40;29 - 01;53;42;17
Summer Boger
“good morning I’m summer boger”
Here she is in April 20-22 going back and forth with then-Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
APR 5: 01;54;57;15 - 01;55;25;18
Summer Boger
“You must end the covid emergency cease and desist from membership of the world economic forum because it is in direct conflict with out US Constitution. And you must reinstate all lost jobs from mandates and resign from office. And I am telling you this because failure to comply with these demands and this notice … (VOICE OF NATHAN FLETCHER “Ma’am the COVID item would be later your comments are off-topic) This is important for you to hear and it is about this. You cannot interrupt me this is my minutes.”
By 20-23, she was comparing vaccines to witchcraft. She repeated misinformation about vaccines containing aborted fetal tissue.
StateMonthlyWebinar: 44;44;03 - 44;55;09
Summer Boger
And so anyway, it's to me this this is satanic. Like I said, it's witches brew, it's witchcraft, it's sorcery. What they are doing,
Boger was the interim California president of a national conservative advocacy group called the Eagle Forum.
In December 2023 she held a two-hour webinar and slide show. She talks about anti-Semitic conspiracies and suggests that vaccines somehow cause kids to identify as gay, or transgender.
StateMonthlyWebinar: 49;40;16 - 49;57;00
Summer Boger
It does affect our our children's chemical makeup and the things that they think and feel. And so for me, it is no surprise to see the, the, LGBTQ culture that we have today in our society.
She says abortion health care is devil-worship.
46;22;02 - 46;45;07
Summer Boger
So we know that satanic rituals feed on the blood of innocent children and that there is a god, Moloch or Satan, that in the Bible they sacrifice babies to for the cleansing of the parents’ sins since this was an act of worship to Satan. And and that's exactly what abortion clinics today are doing.
Emily Berliant is a mother of three. She lives in Cardiff – inside area three where Boger is running for the board seat. She was also surprised when she found out about Boger’s political history.
Video1007346448.mp4: 04;25;23 - 04;47;06
Emily Berliant
So when somebody knocks on your door and says, oh, I'm just a mom trying to give back without disclosing what their views are about things that are very important in a public school system like vaccination, like women's health issues, like, you know, inclusive education, that becomes a problem for me.
She says Boger’s views are out-of-step with the rest of the community and is concerned people just don’t know. She says the issue goes beyond Boger’s political views.
Video1007346448.mp4: 01;27;09 - 01;38;21Emily Berliant
It's more that she isn't telling constituents, she harbors these views and has these political affiliations, which makes it really hard for voters to make an informed choice about her.
Jeff Ladman is the parent of triplet boys – all of whom are on the autism spectrum. He works as a full-time special education instructional aide in the San Dieguito district.
Boger is also a special education aide in the district, but Ladman thinks she’s inflating her resume.
Carlos_3222.MXF: 17;16;26;33 - 16;16;47;18
Jeff Ladman
She is not an accredited teacher with a degree. She is not also an instructional aide, which I am, she is a part time substitute instructional aide.
District records obtained by K-P-B-S show Boger was hired as a substitute in March of this year.
Since then records show she’s logged just over 46 hours of classroom time – or about six days of work.
Ladman says he thinks Boger’s using the job as cover for what’s actually a political agenda.
Carlos_3222.MXF: 17;25;33;53 - 17;25;46;04
Jeff Ladman
I think that people don't understand just how important school boards are. I also think that school boards should, at their best, be nonpolitical and be there for the kids.
We invited Boger to sit for an interview. She declined to comment on her past right-wing activism and says she wants to focus on the issues in front of the school board.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
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A SAN DIEGO COUNTY GRAND JURY SPENT MONTHS ANALYZING THE SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE OF BIKING IN THE CITY.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS THE RESULTING REPORT IS CALLING FOR A NEW APPROACH TO BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE
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BIKEJURY 1 (ab) 0:50 soq
AB: Cyclists in San Diego often have the experience of riding in a bike lane… and then it just ends, and they're left to share a lane with cars. The grand jury report found these gaps in the city's bike network are a big reason why many people don't ride — because parts of the journey feel unsafe. Ian Hembree with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition says San Diego installs bike lanes only when other kinds of roadwork are already planned.
IH: … like stormwater upgrades, like water main upgrades — all of these things that we need to do are packaged with bike infrastructure upgrades. But the connectivity of the network is not being prioritized when we build bike infrastructure in this way. Instead we're just adding it on at the end.
AB: The report also calls on the city to do more regular maintenance of bike lanes, like clearing debris and filling potholes. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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FOR THIS LATEST INSTALLMENT OF THE SAN DIEGO NEWS NOW ORIGINAL, ‘POD BEHIND THE PKG’ WE ARE EXPANDING OUTSIDE OF THE KPBS NEWSROOM!
RECENTLY I SAT DOWN WITH CAL-MATTERS HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTER MICHAEL ZINSHTAYN ON HIS PACKAGE UNDER THE HEADLINE “THE U-C GOT RID OF THE SAT IN ADMISSIONS … IT MAY BE ON ITS WAY BACK”
HERE’S OUR CONVO:
(0:00) Your piece begins by taking us to 2020, when the University of California stopped using SAT, (0:06) ACT scores for their freshman admissions process. Since then, the graduation rates have actually (0:11) risen a little. First year grade point averages per year piece also have increased since 2021, (0:16) so for the four.
But thousands of UC professors feel students show up not ready exactly for (0:21) college and place the blame on these exams being cut, which would be the against. I'd love to know (0:27) just, you know, kind of a simple first question. I'd love to know what first even alerted you, (0:31) Michael, to this trend, or even sparked your interest in diving deeper into this.
(0:35) I gotta say, admittedly, I didn't want to do this story, because I didn't understand (0:41) what the value add was, given that we're gonna get a report from the Academic Senate that was (0:48) commissioned by the chair of the Board of Regents of the UC. So you have like the top person of the (0:56) board that oversees the governance and policymaking of the UC. She commissioned a report (1:02) in July of this year, and that report is due February of 2027.
And so I thought, (1:11) we'll wait for a report then, right? But there was so much animus in every direction over this topic. (1:19) It was, it was too hot not to touch. But it was too hot not to touch.
But interestingly, (1:24) these debates have been going on and have been sounding the same for at least a half decade. (1:32) And so part of the story was trying to find new information, but also grounding that information (1:38) in the debates that have been ongoing, again, for at least a decade. (1:43) Would you say that COVID is the reason this change occurred? (1:47) I would say COVID accelerated the conversation, but the conversation was going on before COVID.
(1:56) So the reason why the Board of Regents voted to stop using the SAT in 2020 was because of a report (2:06) that the president of the UC system commissioned, and she commissioned that in 2019, right? So that's (2:13) definitely pre-COVID. And you had at least one chancellor in the UC system, chancellor meaning (2:20) the leader of a campus, president is the leader of the system, chancellor is leader of a campus, (2:24) and that was then-chancellor Christ of UC Berkeley. And she questioned the value of the SAT, (2:31) and that was also in either late 2019 or early 2020.
So doubts about the utility of the SAT (2:39) existed before COVID-19. It's just that when the regents were voting on whether to keep the SAT (2:47) or not for admissions purposes, the racial disparities that were magnified by COVID-19 (2:55) were top of mind during that debate. And so there was already the suspicion that the SATs were biased (3:03) against low-income students, and because a disproportionate number of low-income students (3:08) are Black and Latino, there was this worry that there was a racial unfairness baked into the SAT.
(3:16) And then when we started seeing that like the death toll for Black Americans was like twice (3:21) that of white Americans during the first few months of COVID, the regents were connecting (3:28) the dots, if you will. And so COVID did play a role, it just didn't instigate the debate. (3:34) Got you.
It almost seems like it helped inadvertently put like a brighter light on it. (3:40) Michael, can you talk to me a little bit about the studies that you profile in your piece? (3:44) They say tests can more accurately predict how a student will perform in college rather than their (3:49) high school grades do. Can you talk to me about some of the studies that justify that, kind of the (3:54) for pro for it, and then also the research papers that actually say the exact opposite? Are you able (4:00) to kind of give me that for and that against? Yeah, folks who have an excellent grounding in (4:06) statistics can eat their heart out reading all these papers, but I would say the papers come (4:11) down to this.
It's not that SAT is necessarily better than a high school GPA. It's just the SAT (4:21) is a valuable add-on and tells more about a student's readiness than high school grades alone. (4:29) So if you combine the two, it gives you more predictive power.
It tells you it is the pro (4:36) people in the studies. For example, this is something that the college board, the maker of (4:40) the SAT, likes to say that like combining SAT scores with high school GPA gives more predictive (4:46) power. Predictive power meaning college admissions office is empowered with more information to (4:53) determine whether that student will do well in their first year of college.
I don't know what (4:58) this February report will show, but I'll be looking out for those things for sure. Thank you (5:03) for that kind of clear, concise breakdown there. That makes perfect sense.
Once again, I'm being (5:07) joined by higher education reporter Michael Zinstein. Thank you so much for your time. How (5:11) many professors across how many universities would we say you spoke with, interviewed, and kind of (5:16) collected background on to put this piece together? The answer to that question is seven or eight (5:23) between UCSD and UC Berkeley.
That's people that I spoke with or had written to. And then I relied (5:32) on the writings of a handful of other professors from UCLA, from Berkeley. There's an economist (5:39) at Berkeley who's a leading voice in arguing no SAT.
There's a law professor at Berkeley who's (5:47) also a leading voice for no. The math professors who are leading voices for bringing back the SAT. (5:53) I was in long email threads with them.
The chancellor, the former chancellor of UC Riverside. (6:01) So not exhaustive, but here's the thing. 3,000 professors signed one of the two open letters (6:08) saying bring back the SAT.
3,000 professors sounds like a lot, but there are 26,000 (6:15) professors or academic workers. Some word that means professor, but they don't use the word (6:20) professor. So 3,000 out of 26,000.
Now that could mean that not everybody wanted to stick their neck (6:26) out. Just because you don't sign something doesn't mean that you oppose it. But as a (6:31) reporter, I felt responsible in putting that number in context.
For sure, to give that kind (6:36) of context that it's not necessarily a drop in the bucket. It's still 3,000 people. But when we (6:40) look at 26,000, maybe a 13,000 out of 26, they'd have a stronger argument percentage wise.
But no, (6:48) that's great. That makes perfect sense. The Academic Senate is going to present or a (6:53) committee from the Academic Senate is going to present their results just as they did six years (6:57) ago.
It's almost like deja vu. Like there was an order to come up with the report in 2019. The (7:04) report comes like February ish of 2020.
All right, well, now we have an order to come up with the (7:10) report in 2026. And it'll drop around February of 2027. And who knows what the Board of Regents (7:16) will do.
They haven't committed to having a vote, right? We don't know what they'll do. If you're (7:20) into process, the Regents have to have an item of discussion, they have to have an item of discussion (7:26) first, and then the next meeting they have to vote on it. So I don't know, realistically, (7:32) if they get it in February, they could maybe talk about it in March and then vote on it in May, (7:37) or they mull it over for a few months, talk about it in May and then have a vote in July.
But we (7:44) don't know what they're going to do. The happy medium I would say is this. So this is important (7:50) for your listeners to appreciate.
The UC is a maverick on the SAT usage question. The UC says (7:59) no SAT or ACT, period. But most of its peers, or many of its peers, public university systems, (8:08) are test optional.
So that's the University of North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, (8:14) they're test optional. What does that mean? That means that if you want to submit an SAT score, (8:19) the admissions office will look at it. If you don't want to submit an SAT score, (8:25) you're not penalized for it.
Now, the no people have their arguments for why test optional is also (8:31) not great, because it might discourage students from applying because they feel like they're (8:37) not good enough. But test optional, I think is viewed as a compromise here. When the UC Board (8:44) of Regents in 2020 made its decision to drop the SAT, the plan was in years one and two, (8:51) they would go test optional, and then they would phase out the SAT completely.
(8:56) But while the regents were having that vote, there was a lawsuit against the UC. And then there was (9:04) a preliminary injunction against the UC that forbade it from using SAT in admissions. And (9:10) then there was a settlement in 2021, in which the UC said that it would not use SAT for admissions (9:17) through 2025, or something like that.
Well, it's now 2026. So this is the first year that the UC, (9:24) legally speaking, can bring back the SAT if it wanted to. So yeah, test optional could be a thing.
(9:29) The people who sued, they told me don't rule out a lawsuit from us, depending on how the SAT would (9:36) be reinstated if it is reinstated. So there's just so many unknowns. There's so many unknowns.
(9:41) And what I hope that the listeners take from this is, (9:45) you know, get familiar with the debates and watch out for that February report.
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RESEARCHERS STILL DON’T KNOW A LOT ABOUT HOW INSECTS EVOLVED BUT NOW THEY STUMBLED AN IMPORTANT CLUE.
REPORTER CARLY KAY SAYS AN OVERLOOKED FOSSIL AT A LOCAL MUSEUM IS KEY
SDFOSSIL TRT: (:50) SOQ
What used to be known as a crustacean fossil lived in a drawer at the Natural History Museum for 40 years.
But a UK researcher spotted an image of it in a textbook AND REACHED OUT.
The Nat’s Shahan (shuh-han) Derkarabetian (Dare-uh-cara-bait-AN) says it’s the missing link between animals that live in water and modern insects.
SD FOSSIL 1A (:13)
They have these little paddled appendages they used to swim around. And so that kind of characteristics is kinda of what bridges that gap between things that swim and things that walk purely on land
The 324 million year old fossil is now one of the oldest insect fossils on record.
IT’LL BE ON DISPLAY FOR THE NEXT WEEK. Carly Kay, KPBS News
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
That’s it for today’s pod. The podcast today was edited by Laura Castañeda and is hosted and produced by myself, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
