A climate friendly building material

Good Morning and happy Halloween, I’m Debbie Cruz….and It’s Monday, October 31st.

We’ll hear about a building material that can offset the burning of fossil fuels

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

Some community activists say San Diego police officers are being intimidated by other officers… to protect a code of silence within the department.

Tasha Williamson of Exhaling Injustice says officers sent her photos from inside police headquarters… depicting stickers of rats and blue falcons.

She says the symbols are used to intimidate officers who want to report police corruption.

The stickers have since been removed, but Williamson is calling for an investigation.

“How can there be a real system of justice if officers are afraid of rogue officers, community members are afraid of rogue officers, and management is not effectively dealing with rogue officers.” 

SDPD says it is working on a response to our request for comment.

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San Diego County health officials are warning about a triple threat of illness this fall and winter.

There’s been an early spike in flu and R-S-V cases, but COVID cases are currently decreasing.

If all three spike at once, it could lead to extra pressure on the medical system.

Health officials recommend wearing a mask, washing your hands thoroughly and often and staying home if you feel sick.

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THE MOTHER GOOSE PARADE WON'T MAKE ITS WAY THROUGH EL CAJON this year.

ORGANIZERS ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY THAT IT’S BEEN CANCELED BECAUSE OF

STAFFING, LOGISTIC AND SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES.

THE PARADE is usually HELD THE SUNDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING

It’S ONE OF THE COUNTY'S LONGEST-RUNNING HOLIDAY EVENTS.. starting in 19-47.

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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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California recently updated its building code to allow high-rises made almost entirely out of wood. But not just any wood: An emerging type of wood product called mass timber. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen says its use is growing in San Diego, fueling hopes that mass timber can help with the city's climate goals.

AB: On the western edge of Scripps Ranch, just off I-15, crews are assembling a 10-story building made out of mass timber. The product is made by joining several planks of wood together, usually with glue, to form large structural panels and beams. SP: They're first fabricated by gluing plywood together — you can still see the seam. AB: Shiling Pei is an engineering professor with the Colorado School of Mines. This building won't ever be inhabited. It's a research experiment Pei is leading to test how mass timber responds to earthquakes. The building's walls are specially designed to move and absorb energy. It’s built on something called a shake table. In February, it'll mimic earthquakes of increasing intensity. SP: I know our mass and engineering is pretty solid. We have good material, I think we're going to put on a good show. But the reason we do research and the reason we do tests is we don't know the full story.  AB: The main appeal of mass timber is environmental. Steel and concrete cost huge amounts of energy to produce. Mass timber, on the other hand, is made from a renewable resource grown by the sun. Trees capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their cells. That means sustainable production of mass timber can offset the burning of fossil fuels. Pei hopes his research will help the product go mainstream. SP: In a way, we're playing a role to be a good educator for the public and building officials to say this is totally feasible, and there's a great benefit. JC: Architects, engineers have always struggled with, you know, how do you build in a way that is actually positive for the environment. AB: Jennifer Cover is president and CEO of WoodWorks, a nonprofit that promotes mass timber.  JC: The building industry contributes about 40% of the total greenhouse gasses globally. And if you look at just building materials alone, it's somewhere between 9 and 11%. AB: This summer California amended the building code to allow structures up to 18 stories tall made with mass timber. Cover says those updates came after research showed mass timber is remarkably resistant to fire. When exposed to flames… JC: The solid piece of wood begins to char, and what that does is create an insulation layer against further heat damage. And so the wood is actually protected and it self-extinguishes. AB: Despite its potential to help decarbonize the building industry, mass timber remains something of a novelty in North America. But its popularity is growing fast.  AA: The building comes in through here and makes an L, and you're gonna have an outdoor plaza. AB: Alex Alemany shows me around a lot in North Park where he's planning to build a five-story, 55-unit apartment building. It'll be a hybrid, with mass timber floors and ceilings but conventional wood framing for the walls. Alemany estimates the mass timber is adding at least 15% to his construction costs. But he's betting future tenants will pay a premium for the aesthetic appeal. AA: When you go in, you're going to see these huge exposed mass timber panels, completely unobstructed, and you're going to have that nature element inside of your unit. Kind of like you're in a wooden cabin. AB: A lot will have to change before San Diego sees its first mass timber high rise. Contractors with experience in mass timber are in short supply here. Alemany expects the material will have to catch on with large, deep pocketed developers first. AA: And the more and more of those larger projects get accomplished with mass timber, there's going to be a trickle down effect in the mass market and the smaller projects. AB: San Diego's Climate Action Plan briefly mentions mass timber as a more sustainable building material that the city should seek to incentivize. Exactly what those incentives will look like or when they'll take effect is unclear. In the meantime, Alemany says, the city has to get more familiar with the material. He submitted his blueprints for review last December, and is still waiting for a building permit. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

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The San Diego Association of Governments has been hit with several poor audits, and now one board member wants further action. inewsource investigative reporter Jennifer Bowman explains.

"After yet another scathing assessment of agency spending practices, a veteran SANDAG board member wants to talk about its top employee. Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall has requested an early review of C-E-O Hasan Ikhrata’s job performance. He cited a recent audit that found massive increases to the agency’s vendor contracts. Hall tells inewsource that it’s time to address the agency’s loss in credibility. But board leaders have rejected his request and say they won’t talk about Ikhrata until his annual review in December. The board will discuss the new contracts audit next month. For KPBS, I’m inewsource investigative reporter Jennifer Bowman."

inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS

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San Diego’s most prominent researchers hope the ocean gets attention when the world’s leaders meet to discuss the planet’s climate in November. KPBS Environment Reporter Erik Anderson has details.

The 27th conference of the parties, commonly referred to as COP27, convenes in Egypt soon and the ocean is getting more than just passing attention.  The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface and it absorbs both carbon and heat. Margaret Leinen is the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  She says the ocean has buffered some of the changes already underway, but the future remains uncertain. “It may not be able to buffer us from all of the extremes that it has been able to do in the past.” The Scripps institution of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic institute in Massachusetts are hosting an ocean pavilion at the meeting in an effort to highlight the impact of climate change on the ocean. Erik Anderson KPBS News

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Coming up.... We chat about the traditions behind dia de los muertos. That’s coming up later in the show.

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Tens of thousands voters in San Diego County prefer to vote in a language other than English. But in-person assistance at vote centers sometimes falls short of the need. inewsource reporter Sofía Mejías Pascoe explains.   

"The Registrar of Voters will operate more than 200 vote centers across the county by Election Day in November. For new voters, many of them immigrants or refugees, in-language assistance from poll workers is a major reason they go to vote centers instead of voting by mail. But when Martha Hernandez voted for the first time, no one at the poll center she visited spoke Spanish. "Una total diferencia del cielo a la tierra, grandísimo." Having that would have made a huge difference, she said. Every year, the county struggles to hire bilingual poll workers, especially those who speak languages including Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic. For KBPS, I’m inewsource reporter Sofía Mejías-Pascoe.

inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS

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You can find your closest voting center by going to kpbs.org slash voter hub

One of the measures, San Diegans will see on their ballots is measure H.

It would open parks and rec facilities to childcare businesses.

But KPBS reporter Claire Trageser says the measure includes a confusing word choice that has led to some opposition to the measure.

Measure H would allow the city to  lease out land and facilities to child care businesses. Councilmember Raul Campillo supports the measure. It makes no sense that we aren't looking at every city facility and seeing how we might be able to incorporate child care into it, both for our employees and for the public. The text of the measure gives the “city manager,” not the City Council, authority to lease out city land to childcare businesses. In a recent editorial, The San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed a “no” vote on the measure because it “gives a single official vast power over extremely valuable parkland.” But Campillo says the newspaper missed an important point—all leases for more than three years have to be approved by the City Council. He says no childcare provider would want such a short lease. CT KPBS News

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This is the last day of wildfire preparedness month… but fire danger is year-round.

San Diego county has a unique helicopter program that puts sheriff’s deputies right above the fire lines.

KPBS reporter Kitty Alvarado went to their base in El Cajon.

That’s  the  San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s ASTREA or aerial support to regional enforcement agencies unit. it’s the only one like it where you have the fire side of the house meeting with the law enforcement side of the house for this mission. That’s Sgt. Scott Bligh, one of the fire pilots. They have seven helicopters and fly about 2000 emergency calls every year  These units are critical assets when it comes to fighting fires because they are the only helicopters that stay within county lines …and they are often the first ones on scene.  And every attack is dangerous … The smoke, the powerlines, the trees, the snags, the terrain and the winds can be absolutely hellacious. What he’s learned in the 20 years he’s been fighting fires with the ASTREA unit … be ready for anything we’re always going to be ready to do what comes our way  Kitty Alvarado KPBS News.

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It’s Halloween! SO HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU..I’M GUESSING THAT A LOT OF YOU Celebrated over the weekend. NO PARTIES FOR ME, BUT LIKE EVERY YEAR, I’LL BE PASSING OUT CANDY TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS.

There’s another holiday around this time of the year that many members of our community celebrate - that’s dia de los muertos.

KPBS reporter Tania Thorne is here with me to talk about the holiday.

If you’d like to get out and celebrate the holiday this week, there are a few community celebrations around the county.

A community altar is being set up at Veterans Park in Imperial Beach tomorrow.

They are inviting you to bring photos and mementos of lost loved ones to add to the altar.

And on Wednesday there will be a big celebration in Old Town.

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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. Have a great day and Happy Halloween.