A push for more sick leave
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, August 24th.
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The effort to expand paid sick leave in the state.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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An increase to water rates in the city of San Diego could be on the horizon.
The city of San Diego is considering a more than 10-percent rate increase that would take effect December 1st.
That would be followed by a nearly 9 percent increase in January 20-25.
The proposal would also pass along any future rate increases imposed by the County Water Authority.
The city says the rate hike is needed to cover the increasing cost of water and the cost to replace aging infrastructure.
San Diegans can mail in comments on the proposal, or attend a hearing on September 19th at the City Administration Building in downtown.
After hearing from the public, the city council will vote on the increase.
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Tijuana’s little league All-star baseball team has won again!
The team beat Japan 2-to-0 yesterday.
Today they’ll face Team Curacao from the Caribbean region.
If Mexico wins, the team will be only one game away from the Little League World Series Championship game.
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Animal rescue organizations are stepping up to help pets impacted by the wildfires in Maui.
The first of 20 orphaned pets are now at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe.
Jessica Gercke is the Communications Director for the nonprofit.
"These orphan animals that never had a home maybe would be the first be considered to be euthanized. So if we can take in these animals and find them a loving family here and also knowing we are opening up a space so that the people there that want to keep their animals but need a place to keep them for a while have that space available to them."
The animals will be available for adoption over the next few weeks, after they're medically cleared.
If you're interested in adopting, you can visit Animal Center Dot Org.
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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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Worker coalitions are pushing state lawmakers to increase the minimum number of paid sick days from three to seven per year.
Reporter Katie Hyson has more.
Working while sick risks infecting the community. Staying home without paid leave costs wages and sometimes jobs. Nearly two-thirds of Californians live paycheck to paycheck. Denise Barlage works as a grocery cashier in Huntington Park near LA. She says she was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis and has no sick leave left to attend her twice monthly doctor's appointments. Companies aren’t going to give it to us. It’s going to be our politicians who recognize workers as the strongbuild of this community. Employer groups opposing the bill say many businesses can’t afford the change, and would pass the cost onto customers or cut jobs, wages or other benefits. Similar attempts to expand paid sick leave in recent years have stalled. Only three weeks remain for the senate to pass this bill. Katie Hyson, KPBS News.
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There was a slight bump in COVID cases and hospitalizations at the end of last month across the county.
A new coronavirus variant has also gotten the attention of public health officials in recent weeks.
Dr. Eric Topol is the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla.
He spoke to my colleague Jade Hindmon about covid and other respiratory infections this season.
Here’s part of their conversation.
It has been quite a while since we talked about COVID, but that doesn’t exactly mean it has gone away. So what can you tell us about where we stand with COVID today?
What makes it different?
And this is the BA dot 2 dot 86 you’re talking about right?
With these latest variants, what can you tell us about new boosters and variant-proof vaccines? Can we expect those any time soon?
Now aside from COVID, flu and RSV have also been major concerns this time of year. What do we know about the outlook for those this year?
TAG: That was Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host, Jade Hindmon.
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Coming up.... We hear about the message behind the artwork at waterfront park. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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Tropical Storm Hilary forced more than two-billion gallons of polluted stormwater into the U-S this past weekend.
Environment reporter Erik Anderson has details.
The storm overwhelmed the International wastewater treatment plant just north of the U-S Mexico border. There was so much water coming through the plant that operators diverted flows into the ocean outfall without the proper treatment. Polluted water also flowed through the Tijuana River channel. The San Diego Regional Water Quality control Board’s David Gibson says that is not acceptable. David Gibson San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. “We simply have to get that water out of the river and into a treatment plant and into beneficial reuse if practicable, but discharged three miles off shore and in compliance with the clean water act if nothing else.” Gibson says a planned expansion of the sewage treatment complex is still years away. Meanwhile, polluted water continues to flow across the border and the ocean in the southern part of the county remains unsafe for swimmers. Erik Anderson KPBS News.
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The city of San Diego is getting nearly 25-million dollars from the new state budget.
Reporter John Carroll says some of those funds will benefit Balboa Park.
The money is going to a host of projects around the city. three institutions in balboa park will split more seven million dollars. half-a-million will go to re-leather the spreckels organ… in other words to refurbish the iconic instrument. more than one million is allocated for the natural history museum. president and ceo judy gradwohl says it will be used for repairs and upgrades. “we are looking at replacing our roof. we’ve got an air conditioning system that needs work and several other things that will all provide energy savings.” the biggest piece - more than five-and-a-half million - is going to the fleet science center. it will be used to relocate the entrance and transform the basement into an exhibit called “science of the impossible” - designed by master magician jason latimer. jc, kpbs news.
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It’s tarantula mating season.
That means Residents may be seeing more of the crawling creatures, especially in east county.
Reporter Matt Hoffman has more on what to do if one’s in your house.
Matt Thomas, Pet Kingdom CEO males are just on the hunt for love. They’re trying to breed and find females Matt Thomas is CEO of Pet Kingdom in the Midway area.. he says California’s bronze and black tarantulas will be mating through October.. Which means males are actively out looking for mates. East county it’s real prevalent right now Thomas says tarantulas are an important part of the local ecosystem.. And even though venomous, they’re relatively tame. Thomas If you were to get bit by one it’s just -- you’ll have some local swelling, maybe a little redness but that’s about it Thomas We just strongly recommend there’s no real need to kill the animal. So just relocating it, it’s going to move on. It’s not in your house trying to feed off you or your pets or anything like that Thomas says tarantulas are popular pets because they’re low maintenance.. MH KPBS News.
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Go to waterfront park and you’ll see a bright-colored mural showing a sunflower, a bird and a wheelchair.
The message is inclusion.
Sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge tells us how this public art reflects the people who created it.
It’s a gorgeous day at the bayfront park, next door to the county building downtown. This is a place where kids can ride a swing, splash in a fountain and see some public art. There’s a statue by Niki De Saint Phalle (Niki de Sahn fall) called number 19 baseball player. And also a new mural, painted earlier this summer. “You can see it getting all the way from the trolley station and walking up. You can see it from a lot of different angles. It just draws people in. It brings joy and a feeling of, like, happiness which we could use a little bit more of that in our day.” Hanna Gundrum is an artist who works with a San Diego non-profit called Revision. There she coaches aspiring artists with autism. And she worked with them to create this piece of public art. The mural lies on a rich blue background and shows a red and yellow bird, a sunflower with the earth in its center and a hand that says I love you in sign language. Gundrumm got ideas from people about what images would present the right story and message. Jack Medved came up with the ideas for the sunflower and its rustic pot. “It kinda represents something very important. Inclusion is a great way to respect the circle of life! Well, something like that, ha-ha!” Medved is a person with autism. Some of his paintings are on display at a downtown coffee shop. Revision founder and director Joy Boe calls art a unifying force because it doesn’t completely reveal the person behind it. “When you see a beautiful piece of art you don’t necessarily think, ‘Who would have created this? What kind of person is behind this?’ You immediately have a reaction to the art itself. So the person comes secondary to the experience you’re having when you’re viewing art.” Therefore, she says, with art you judge the creation, you don't really judge the artist or their personality. She likes to use the expression neurodiversity, when talking about people on the autism spectrum. And sometimes people can’t communicate typically through speech and language but they may have a gift of objects. They might have a gift of piecing items together and creating a sculpture or putting colors together really beautifully and to me that’s a form of communication as well.” “Everybody has a blessing.” Jack Medved again. “Not every artist is the same here. We are all blessed with unique gifts and talents. It doesn't matter what colors you choose and there’s no wrong place or right place to start.” Because the mural sits in the very popular waterfront park, it will be seen by lots of people, from families to tourists to people who are homeless. Gundrum hopes they all remember something good. “We don’t know people's histories. We don’t know where they’ve been. We don’t know what their struggles or their triumphs might be. With waterfront park being such a community oriented space with so many different types of people coming here to enjoy the city and the park, just letting people know they are welcomed and they belong and that they’re cared about essentially.” Another image on the mural is the figure-8 infinity, which has become a symbol for people with autism. Boe says it represents the spectrum and the possibilities that people continue to have in their lives. SOQ.
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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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories, plus, we have you covered with ideas on what to do this weekend. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
