San Diego Schools Preparing For Possibility of Coronavirus And More Local News

Speaker 1: 00:00 It's Friday, February 28th I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego news matters from KPBS coming up San Diego schools or preparing for the possibility of coronavirus and San Diego's midway district has a long path to revitalization. Speaker 2: 00:17 I would not consider this a very walkable neighborhood. I would not consider this a very sort of aesthetically pleasing neighborhood Speaker 1: 00:22 that more coming up right after the break. Speaker 2: 00:34 [inaudible] [inaudible] Speaker 1: 00:37 with health officials saying the Corona virus will likely spread in the United States over the next year. Local school districts are preparing KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman spoke with the County office of education which is helping coordinate efforts with local schools. Speaker 3: 00:51 The County office of ed says schools need a four-part plan of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Prevention is what officials are pushing now with reminders to keep sick kids home from school and tips to prevent spread like frequent hand washing music. Watson with the County office of education says school should be looking at how to ensure the health of students while at the same time having a plan to remove those who might become sick. Speaker 4: 01:13 The CDC, the world health organization have said that it's possible, maybe likely that we'll get some cases here. And so we're just planning. Maybe that's a couple of cases. Maybe it's a lot of cases. We'll continue to work with public health to see what that looks like. So each school and school district will make decisions and we, the County office will be there to help provide guidance. Speaker 3: 01:33 To be clear right now, there is no evidence the virus is spreading in San Diego. Matt Hoffman, K PBS news, Speaker 1: 01:40 California's third snow survey of the season measured yesterday, finds the Sierra Nevada snowpack well below average CAPP radio. Steve, he reports Speaker 5: 01:49 the measurements were taken at Phillips station near Lake Tahoe. The manual survey recorded 29 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 11 and a half inches. That results in a 47% of an average March. John DeGuzman is with the state department of water resources. The numbers are no surprise given the dry weather. This past February, uh, there wasn't actually any recorded, uh, measurable precept in the Northern Sierra on our eight station index. And that's actually never happened before in its history since 1921 it's not unprecedented for California to be in this position. In 2018 after a dry start, March storms made up much of the deficit. It brought California closer to normal that year. The next snow survey will be conducted on April 1st in Sacramento. I'm Steve mill. Name County Speaker 1: 02:33 officials are making final preparations for primary election day. On March 3rd KPBS reporter Taryn Minto explains there are opening temporary offices to help a possible surge of San Diego register and vote on the same day. You've got to click next page and instructor helps train a new election worker how to use an app that'll help voters register and cast ballots on the same day. The crowded room of trainees will one of four new temporary satellite centers to process these time consuming cases. This is really important. The county's top election official, Michael WGU is urging San Diegans who need to register or change their registration to go to one of these locations. That includes nonpartisan voters who want to cast a ballot for a presidential candidate. Speaker 6: 03:18 We're hoping that this will mitigate. Some of the lines that we saw during the November, 2018 election. Speaker 1: 03:24 The centers in Chula Vista, spring Valley, San Marcos and Carmel mountain ranch will be open on Saturday through election day. On Tuesday, Taryn mento KPBS news go to kpbs.org/election for satellite center locations and hours. Last week we told you about a developer who faced public outcry over its plans to build a downtown San Diego high rise with a separate door and fewer amenities for low income residents. Now, KPBS reporter Claire Trek has her says its plans have changed, so we have a common entrance, a common lobby, a common reception, common mail room. David Dick is a lawyer with the developer pinnacle international. He presented the company's new design for the East village project to civic San Diego, the city's nonprofit redevelopment agency, a single project with single entrance and a single identity, if you will, design for the East village project to civic San Diego, the city's nonprofit redevelopment agency. The first plan had separate entrances and excluded low income residents from using the building's pool in rooftop deck civic San Diego. Twice rejected the original plans and pinnacle threatened to Sue. Now the two sides have come to an agreement. The new plan gets rid of the separate doors but still blocks low income residents from the pool and deck. Clare Treg sir KPBS news civic San Diego approved the new plan with a six one vote after just two and a half years. They had a veterans village is stepping down as president and CEO. KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh says she leaves a vulnerable organization in transition Speaker 6: 05:03 in 2017 Kim Mitchell represented a generational change for an organization founded in 1981 as the Vietnam veterans of San Diego. Mitchell was the first woman to run the nonprofit. Speaker 7: 05:15 All organizations need to evolve eventually to meet the needs of the clients that they're serving. And so I, you know, I was, I was certainly very honored, uh, that the board of directors had chosen me Speaker 6: 05:28 a 17 year Navy veteran. Mitchell was also the first non Vietnam veteran to run the group. Though she has strong ties to the war. She was adopted by an American airman from an orphanage in Denang Vietnam. During the war. She leaves to go back to DC as a VP for national university veterans village is now searching for her replacement. Steve Walsh KPBS news Speaker 1: 05:52 tonight and tomorrow night concept Pierce Morgan moves her heaven or hell dance from lay girls to the white box theater in Liberty station. KPBS arts reporter Beth like Amando previews the show caught up. Pierce Morgan owns and runs lay girls a strip club that also serves as a venue for her plays. She's been working on her heaven or hell dance series for years. Part two, journey of memory debuted at San Diego international fringe festival last summer, part three 1971 San Diego premiered at Lake girls this past November and taps into the political activism that she and her late husband, James Morgan were known for. We are exposing the darker underbelly of San Diego in 1971 and it's relevant because so much of the corruption, the abuse of power, the prejudice towards diversity, the silent bystanders with the good old boys code of silence that is relevant for today. You'll get to discover the inner workings of the pimp, the streetwalker, the stripper, the medieval ghosts nun who represents the homeless or anyone who's been dis and franchised and the sailor who is really a an icon on the streets of San Diego in 1971 heaven or hell three 1971 San Diego gets its first exposure outside of Lake girls tonight and tomorrow night at white box in Liberty station. Speaker 1: 07:17 Betha Mondo KPBS news yesterday we told you about the Navy's plans to redevelop it, 70 acre nav war campus in the midway district, potentially bringing in new housing office space and a transit hub and that's just one of several revitalization projects happening in the neighborhood. KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says there's a hunger for growth in midway, but a decades old law could dampen those plans. Speaker 2: 07:42 I think part of what's really exciting about the midway area is that there is so much sort of, um, potential energy, we'll call it Speaker 8: 07:50 DK on UO has lived in the midway district for five years. And as a member of the community planning group, he says, geographically speaking, it's great close to downtown and the beaches, Speaker 2: 07:59 uh, when it comes to sort of lifestyle and recreation though, um, I would not consider this a very walkable neighborhood. I would not consider this a very sort of aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. And we have a lot of really wide streets and some ways midway is very much like a three point. I think this is sort of like San Diego is a little forgotten, aren't paying a lot of ways, Speaker 8: 08:15 forgotten armpit or not an EUO, has hope for midway. We meet outside the Pachanga arena, home to the goal's hockey team. The city of San Diego owns this land and earlier this month put out a call for ideas on how to redevelop it. Throw in the nav war project one mile away, plus lots of other underdeveloped land. And on Euro says midway could be on the verge of greatness, but there's a catch. Speaker 2: 08:39 I believe that that the community would develop in a much more interesting and beneficial way if we did not have a limitation of 30 feet. Speaker 8: 08:52 Kathy Kenton is a property and business owner in midway and the chair of community planning group midway is West of interstate five meaning new development is subject to the strict 30 foot height limit approved by voters in 1972 Kenton says that was a mistake. Midway isn't a coastal neighborhood. No one's ocean views will be blocked by taller buildings. Here she says theoretically midway could still be revitalized without changing the height limit, Speaker 9: 09:18 but if we do it's going to be pretty dense, pretty tight and it's going to be pretty flat horizontally. So if we were able to go up higher with, with redevelopment, then we would be able to add more parks, add more open space, and make a more interesting and enjoyable living area. Speaker 8: 09:41 Any change to the height limit in midway would have to be approved by city voters and the easiest path to the ballot box would be through the city council. Exciting things going on in the midway area and all of district two really. Councilwoman Jenn Campbell's district includes the midway area. She spoke at a recent meeting of the community planning group saying she's excited about nav war, the arena property and everything else that's about to happen here. We want to make sure that it's done beautifully. Nicely brings the area up and helps all of us in San Diego at the meeting, several of the planning group members and members of the public press Campbell to make sure their desire to raise the height limit gets heard at city hall. Campbell says message received. Yeah. It sounds like you're interested in raising it significant. Yeah. Yeah, so that's good. That's good to hear. Speaker 8: 10:32 And if you have any, a balance in mind or whatever, we'd love to hear about just yesterday, Campbell co-signed a memo with Councilman Chris Cate calling for a ballot measure to repeal the height limit in midway. The council hasn't tell August to decide whether to go along with that request. For some in San Diego, the coastal height limit is sacrosanct, but unlike coastal neighborhoods like point Loma or LA Jolla, not many people actually live in midway. DKA on UO who does live here says he wants more neighbors, more customers for small businesses, more eyes on the street to deter crime. And he says midway should do its part to relieve San Diego's housing shortage. How Speaker 2: 11:12 in some ways, I think actually something of a, a civic duty to avail ourselves of as many different um, opportunities and options as possible. It would be a failure, massive failure on city leadership. I think even as a city, as citizens and civilians if we weren't able to do that. Speaker 8: 11:28 The city council approved an update to the midway community plan a year and a half ago, paving the way for up to 10,000 new homes here and it's starting to bear some fruit. Two projects are in the works with hundreds of new apartments either proposed or already under construction. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news, Speaker 7: 11:55 thanks for listening to San Diego news batters. Do us a favor, and if you appreciate the podcast rate or review us on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you.