City News Service

Temperatures could reach the triple digits in most areas of San Diego County Wednesday as a heat waves stretches on through Friday.

After hours of public input and deliberation, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a $6.5 billion operating budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

San Diego County public health officials reported 267 new COVID-19 infections and five additional deaths, increasing the regional totals to 36,994 cases and 665 deaths.

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher proposed almost $50 million in additional social services Tuesday, including assistance for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, ahead of the county board's vote on the fiscal year 2020-21 budget Tuesday afternoon.

With schools and colleges moving online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Diego Blood Bank put out a call to the public Tuesday asking for more blood donations as campus blood drives are canceled or put on hiatus.

During the pandemic, social media platforms have played a major role in conveying information from health care leaders and government officials to communities about how to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Yet as quickly as new and accurate information on the virus becomes available, so too do counterfeit health products.

California has been battered by 10 previous atmospheric rivers this winter.

The latest in-custody death comes on the heels of news that a sheriff’s deputy was arrested for allegedly having illegal drugs on county jail property.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement in response to Southwest's cancellations, noting that the department will be looking into the situation.