San Diego’s 'Ghost Gun' Ordinance

Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert…it’s Friday, September 24th. >>>> San Diego’s Ghost Gun Ordinance More on that next, but first... let’s do the headlines…. ###### The CDC has approved Pfizer covid-19 vaccine booster shots for the elderly, those with medical conditions, and high-risk workers like those in healthcare. Dr. Christian RAY-MERS is an infectious disease expert with Family Health Centers of San Diego. He warns people not to try to fake a need for the extra shot. ““Vaccine adverse events are extremely rare, but if something bad were to happen as the patient or the person giving the vaccine is not covered because they’re not following published guidelines. So, you’re a little bit out on a limb, there.” ######## Governor Gavin Newsom approved nearly one-billion-dollars in new spending for wildfire prevention. The spending was approved while Newsom visited Sequoia national park where the K-N-P Complex fire is threatening the world’s largest and oldest trees. Most of California’s wildfire budget is spent on putting out fires. This new money will focus on prevention measures like clearing brush and dead trees. ######## Saying "thanks for your military service" is nice enough.. But on Thursday the San Diego Padres went a bit farther. They gave a car to retired U-S Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Paul McQuigg....not only to thank him for his 20 years of service, but also for his work with nonprofits that help the military and veterans. Here's Gunny McQuigg: you hear about stories and so on and so forth of other guys and you're happy for them and their families that something like this would happen for them, but when it happens to you it's kind of like wow, what did i really do to deserve something that's as great as this, as beneficial as this. ######### From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. Mayor Todd Gloria signed a first of its kind law in the country on thursday aimed at getting so-called “Ghost Guns” off the streets. The bill got its start in April after a gunman opened fire in the gaslamp quarter with deadly results. CG: Todd Gloria/San Diego Mayor “You can see there’s an approved or there’s a veto. I can assure you I’ll be signing on the approved line and let me do that right now.” With Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and gun safety advocates looking on… Mayor Todd Gloria signed an ordinance meant to crack down on “ghost guns”. The name of the new law is “ENUF” Eliminate Unserialized Untraceable Firearms. Von Wilpert began working on the ordinance not long after a mass shooting in the Gaslamp Quarter back in April. CG: Marni von Wilpert/San Diego City Councilmember “A man who was is legally prohibited from owning a gun was able to commit this crime, kill a fellow San Diegan and injure others because he got a ghost gun.” The incident motivated von Wilpert to ask San Diego Police to assess how big a problem ghost guns are in the city. The results were eye-opening… a problem that’s bad and getting worse. Police Department data shows there’s been a 169-percent increase in the first quarter of this year in the amount of ghost guns used to commit crime in the city… with ghost guns accounting for more than 25-percent of the more than 500 illegal guns confiscated this year. “So today we are taking action to close the ghost gun loophole, which allows people who cannot safely possess a firearm to obtain them without a background check going around all of our gun safety laws.” People can still buy kits to make ghost guns on the internet and it’s unclear how the law will impact those sales. The law goes into effect on October 14th. ########## The annual tradition of Restaurant Week is happening again and this year the celebration is hoping to draw people back to dining out. But, KPBS’ Alexander Nguyen says restaurants are still having a staffing shortage. After a year’s absence, Restaurant Week is back. With more than 100 participating restaurants, spanning the county, Restaurant Week chairman Andy Baumann says it’s a chance for people to expand their culinary horizons. He’s also the owner of Tom Ham’s Lighthouse on Shelter Island. CG: Andy Baumann // Tom Ham’s Lighthouse “If Restaurant Week is a way for somebody to get a discount to come see my location and be a fan of ours forever, that is why we participate in restaurant week. This is our 17th year.” Participating restaurants will offer prix-fixe menus ranging from $10 to $25 for lunch and $20 to $60 for dinner. One Door North in North Park, for example, is offering three courses for $40. With all the pivoting that restaurants have done in the past 18 months or so, owner Tammy Pehl (Peel) was worried about how to support her staff. She says just having Restaurant Week again is a welcome change. “With Restaurant Week and the opening back up of restaurants, it’s been great to have worry alleviated.” “While many people are excited about eating out again, restaurant owners are asking people to be patient because they’re still having a hard time hiring servers .” CG: Andy Baumann // Tom Ham’s Lighthouse “There are times when you walk through the doors and see empty tables but we’re not going to seat you. That’s because we can’t do it.” The staffing shortage has hit the restaurant industry especially hard. Baumann says he’s having a hard time hiring people for a variety of positions, such as dishwashers. Restaurant owners have increased wages but some people aren’t willing to go back to work just yet. While the dining experience won’t be what many are used to pre-pandemic, owners say diners should cut their servers some slack and enjoy the experience. And that was KPBS” Alexander Nguyen. For a list of participating restaurants, visit our website … K-P-B-S dot ORG ########## Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that requires warehouse operators to disclose more about the quotas and algorithms they use to squeeze more productivity out of workers. KQED’s Rachael Myrow has more. ####### Like many arts organizations, Diversionary Theater was forced to close its doors during the pandemic, but it put the time to good use by moving ahead with a major and needed remodel. This weekend the theater reopens not just to in person performances but to a renovated facility. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando has this preview. ====================== Diversionary Theater may have been closed to live performances but it’s been busy making improvements says executive artistic director Matt Morrow. MATT MORROW Our newly coined Alfred Mazer and Robert Granite main stage has been completely renovated. We have new theater seats. We took down a wall, so we've expanded the stage itself to make it a little bit larger. It's still an incredibly intimate stage with 102 seats. There is also a full bar, a new cabaret space, swanky bathrooms, and an education center. Plus COVID conscious improvements like better air filtration systems. But most importantly, Diversionary returns to live shows this weekend with the play “One in Two.” MATT MORROW I'm so excited that we're bursting back into action with the West Coast premiere of Donja R. Love’s One and Two… the title, One and two, is a reference to a CDC statistic that is unfortunately still relevant today that says one in two queer African American men will contract HIV AIDS in their lifetime. That means that the epidemic has not ended since the 80s, especially for our queer African American community, and no one's talking about it. One in Two has preview performances for friends and donors this weekend and then runs Oct. 2 through the 24th on the newly renovated Diversionary stage ##### Coming up….San Diego welcomes its first ever professional men’s ATP tennis tournament. “This is just going to inspire, motivate our youth. For the tennis community to be able to have players just feet away, right in front of you to play. I think it’s going to be a huge experience and just promote the game of tennis and our city.” That’s next, just after the break. The biggest professional tennis tournament in San Diego history starts next week. Some notable international and local players will be there. KPBS’ Melissa Mae has more. The Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma had just five weeks to organize and prepare the first ever Association of Tennis Professionals tourney in San Diego… From September 27th to October 3rd tennis fans have the chance to see some of the best male tennis players in the world compete in the San Diego Open. Jack McGrory // San Diego Open Co-Chair “For the sports community and San Diego it’s a big deal.” Jack McGrory (MEH-groar-ee) is the co-chair of the tournament and an avid tennis player. He tells us how the ATP finally selected San Diego to host an ATP tournament. Jack McGrory // San Diego Open Co-Chair “When the Chinese part of the tour got cancelled because of the pandemic, they called us and said, ‘Would you please an ATP tournament, so we can keep the players working and earning prize money.” Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “The ATP granted several one year license to tournaments and we were so fortunate to get one of those.” Ryan Redondo is the Barnes Tennis Center general manager and San Diego Open tournament director. He says every seat is a good one. Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “The courts, the weather, there’s not one bad seat in this facility, so it’s just going to be awesome.” Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “This center court holds 2,000 people, our second court will hold about 400, so we have a lot of people that can come through.” Youth Tennis San Diego owns and operates the center and is dedicated to promoting the development of all youth through organized tennis… clinics for kids are scheduled throughout the tournament and many of the young athletes will be sitting in the stands or serving as ball girls and boys! Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “This is just going to inspire, motivate our youth. For the tennis community to be able to have players just feet away, right in front of you to play. I think it’s going to be a huge experience and just promote the game of tennis and our city.” This men’s professional tournament will feature a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw… a total of $600,000 in prize money is up for grabs. Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “You’re going to have great food, a great atmosphere, music, merchandise to buy, concessions and great weather, San Diego.” Hundreds of jobs were created to put on a tournament of this size, from construction to concessions… plus hundreds of volunteers are needed to help this tournament run smoothly. Besides creating jobs for the community… The tournament will help the local economy too. Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “Hundreds of thousands of dollars are going to go into the city just by bringing this one week tournament in, so it’s a huge boost for the city. It’s a huge boost for Point Loma, Ocean Beach, downtown. It’s so positive for the city.” Players set to appear include Andrey Rublev , currently the number five player in the world and… Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “The big one is Andy Murray. Everybody is really excited about Andy, multi-grand slam champion, gold medalist, so we’re really looking forward to having him here.” Ryan Redondo // San Diego Open Tournament Director “The talent is the best in the world. It’s what you see on the US Open and all of these guys will then be going on to Indian Wells too.” Three local tennis players will have the opportunity to play in front of a hometown crowd, including Brandon Nakashima, who’s currently ranked 85th in the world. He hit some tennis balls on the deck of the USS Midway to promote the San Diego Open and show the ATP’s support for the military community. Brandon Nakashima // ATP Tennis Player “To be able to come up here and even to hit some tennis balls up here it’s such a cool experience.” The tournament will be having a military appreciation day on September 29th. Nakashima is constantly travelling to different tennis tournaments all over the world... He’s looking forward to sleeping in his own bed for a change. Brandon Nakashima // ATP Tennis Player “It’s such a good feeling coming back home and being able to play in a professional tournament by where I grew up and where I trained as a junior. It’s really cool to see and it’s going to be great to have all my family and friends come out and support.” The Rancho Santa Fe High Bluff Academy graduate plans on being a part of the youth clinics as much as he can. The tournament will feature two sessions a day… The day session starts at 11:30 am and a night session starts at 5:30 pm. Free shuttles are being provided from liberty station to the Barnes Tennis Center for both the day and night sessions… masks are required on shuttle, but not at the venue. Melissa Mae KPBS News. Qualifying matches for the tournament will be held at the Barnes Tennis Center this weekend. And we’re told there are still tickets available for that and every session of the tournament as well.. That’s it for the podcast today. Tomorrow we’ll have special bonus episodes of the podcast featuring KPBS’ Summer Music series. In the meantime, be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or check out the Midday podcast. You can also watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television, and as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a wonderful weekend.