A warehouse could become San Diego’s largest homeless shelter

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, April 5th.

A Kettner Boulevard warehouse could become the city's largest homeless shelter.

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

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The Port of San Diego, earlier this week, declared the ongoing Tijuana River Valley pollution crisis a local emergency.

Port officials said cross-border sewage flows have closed beaches in Imperial Beach and Coronado for nearly 850 days and counting.

Those beaches are under the port’s jurisdiction.

The port’s declaration is now part of a growing list of similar actions calling for more funding to address the problem.

The cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach have also declared local emergencies.

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The City of San Diego will reveal the potential new design of the Ocean Beach Pier at a community workshop tomorrow (Saturday).

The workshop is the next step in the long process to replace the fishing pier that has been closed off-and-on for several years because of damage from storms and high surf.

The public is invited to attend the workshop at the Liberty Station Conference center.

It starts at 2 P-M.

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San Diegans are bracing for the cold again, or at least our version of it.

A storm from the north is moving through the region today (Friday) and is expected to bring inland and coastal rain, and snow in the mountains, where a winter weather advisory is in effect until 11 p-m tonight (Friday).

On the bright side, forecasters expect the weekend to clear up with temps for the coastal, inland and desert areas in the low to high 60s.

In the mountains, it’ll be a little cooler with temperatures in the low to high 40s.

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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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San Diego mayor Todd Gloria yesterday (Thursday) announced a plan for what he says will be the largest homeless shelter in the city.

Reporter Melissa Mae tells us about the plan.

When the city of San Diego passed the unsafe camping ordinance in 2023, a promise of more safe housing opportunities was made. Mayor Todd Gloria says he is following through with this promise. “I’m announcing my administration’s plan to create the city of San Diego’s largest ever homeless shelter for people experiencing homelessness that will have capacity for up to 1,000 people to get off the streets and connected to care.” The proposed shelter is a 65,000-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street. There are no details yet on what converting the Kettner site will cost, but Gloria says the funding will come from state grants, the city’s general fund and local philanthropy. The shelter proposal is set to be presented to a City Council Committee on April 18th. Melissa Mae KPBS News.

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For the past year, immigrant advocates have criticized the border patrol’s practice of holding migrants in open air camps near Jacumba and San Ysidro.

On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered the agency to provide housing to migrant children.

Border reporter Gustavo Solis has the story.

Depending on the day, hundreds of migrants – men, women, and children, have slept outside with no protection from the blazing sun or freezing rain. The ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles requires the Department of Homeland Security to quickly process children and place them in facilities that are “safe” and “sanitary.” “We’ve seen kids that arrive who are ill, sick, some who are injured because they’ve fallen from the border wall and need immediate attention. These are not the conditions under which children should be held.” Pedro Rios is an activist with American Friends Service Committee. He’s part of a large network of volunteers who give migrants at the camps food, water, and medical aid. The Border Patrol has previously said migrants in these camps are not technically in their custody – and therefore  not legally required to provide food and shelter. Rios says this ruling is important because it directly contradicts that claim. “This ruling substantiates what I and other advocates have been talking about for over a year. The fact that they are under their custody, they have to provide certain items to them.” Neither the Border Patrol nor Department of Homeland Security responded to requests for comment. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News

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State lawmakers are considering a bill that would substantially limit overdraft fees from many California-based credit unions.

Investigative reporter Scott Rodd reports the bill passed its first committee this week.

A customer gets an overdraft fee when they spend more money than they have in their checking account. Under Senate Bill 1075, credit unions could only charge customers three overdraft fees per month. It would also establish a 5-day grace period for customers to repay their negative balance and avoid fees altogether. State Senator Steven Bradford co-authored the bill and testified before the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee on Wednesday. “Although overdraft is viewed as a financial tool by credit unions, its fees are inherently predatory and target the most financially vulnerable Californians.” The bill would apply to more than 100 credit unions chartered in California. The Senate committee cited a recent KPBS investigation that found those credit unions collected a quarter billion dollars in overdraft fees in 2022.  The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

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Southern California is the greatest emitter in the U-S of a little known greenhouse gas.

It's the pesticide used to kill termites when a house is tented.

Sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge has the story.

Sulfuryl Fluoride has been used to fumigate homes for termites since another pesticide, methyl bromide was found to be ozone depleting. But sulfuryl fluoride is a greenhouse gas that's much more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2. A study by Johns Hopkins and Scripps Institution of Oceanography found most of the pesticide’s nationwide emissions come from California, mainly southern California. Atmospheric scientist Jens Muhle is with Scripps Oceanography. He says fumigating houses is more common in California because drywood termites are very common here, and are more likely to spread throughout a home. “The termites we have here are different from the termites we have in other states in the United States and therefore it seems like most applications and therefore most emissions are happening here.” He says sulfuryl fluoride is not on California’s inventory of greenhouse emissions, meaning it hasn’t been measured as part of the problem.

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Coming up… The Fleet Science Center’s resident astronomer joins me to talk about Monday’s solar eclipse.

“We’ll be seeing a partial solar eclipse, which means about half the sun is going to be obscured from our point of view. And even though half the sun is obscured, it’s still not safe to look directly at the sun.”

We’ll have tips on how you can watch it safely and more, just after the break.

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Clowning, acrobatics, tightrope and many more circus acts are coming to public parks across San Diego.

Reporter Jacob Aere says a ‘social circus’ looks to tell stories through free performances that reach across generations and cultures.

The circus is back in town … Fern Street Circus that is. The arts organization is kicking off its annual Neighborhood Tour, with 10 public, bilingual performances at community parks and rec centers around San Diego. Catalina Paz, or “Abuelita,” is the show’s creator and director. “We're going to have juggling, unicycle, breakdancing, we're going to a Cyr wheel, we're going to have contortion.” The shows include young students from Fern Street Circus’s free programs in City Heights and Imperial Beach. 5th grader Isabella Estrada has been in the program for three years … and is one of the stars of the show. “Something I love about the circus is acrobatics – I just learn new skills. And clowning because I get to express who I really am on the inside.” From mid-city to San Ysidro, the Neighborhood Tour will have professional circus artists and musicians from around the world, offer free Community Health Fairs and pre-show mariachi concerts … on weekends, now through May 5. For those looking to clown around … more information is available at fernstreetcircus.com. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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Millions of Americans will find themselves in the dark in the middle of the day, with the history making solar eclipse, happening on Monday.

Lisa Will is a professor of Astronomy and Physics at San Diego City College, and the Fleet Science Center’s resident astronomer.

She is joining me now to tell us all about this cosmic alignment.

Welcome to the San Diego News Now Podcast Lisa!

So first, what happens during a solar eclipse? 

Is a solar eclipse a rare occurrence?

Will any planets be visible during the eclipse?

Will the solar eclipse look different depending on where you're viewing it from? 

What will the view be like for San Diegans?

So what time on Monday, can people see it and how long will it last?

And how can people safely watch it? 

Where can people get eclipse glasses?

The Fleet Science Center will be having an eclipse viewing party. What can you tell us about that?

I’ve been speaking with professor of Astronomy and Physics at San Diego City College, and Fleet Science Center’s resident astronomer, Lisa Will.

Lisa, thank you for joining me on the San Diego News Now Podcast, I’m excited to see the solar eclipse.

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That’s it for the podcast today.

This podcast is produced by Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by Brooke Ruth.

We’d like to thank KPBS web producer Brenden Tuccinardi and reporter Katie Hyson for helping the podcast team this week.

As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org.

Join us again on Monday to start the week together with the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.