Camp Pendleton troops head to the border
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, January 27th
Camp Pendleton troops have headed to the border. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
San Diego is getting wintery weather today.
There’s a high chance of rain through tomorrow (Tuesday) … and some parts of the county will see snow.
A winter weather advisory is in effect until 4 p.m. today (Monday) for some mountain areas. Expect several inches of snow for mountain areas above 4,000 feet and dangerous road conditions.
The county’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in December, according to California’s Employment Development Department. In November it was 4.6 percent.
The sectors with the biggest month-over gains were trade, transportation and utilities with 17 hundred jobs added.
The state’s unemployment rate for December was higher — just over 5 percent. It was nearly 4 percent nationwide.
There’s now overnight bus service between San Ysidro and downtown San Diego.
The MTS says this is the first time it’s had an overnight service.
Route 910 overnight express runs from midnight to 5 a.m. It makes limited stops between the San Ysidro Transit Center and downtown.
MTS board members say the new service will provide a link along the busiest transit corridor in the region
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED CAMP PENDLETON MARINES ARE AMONG THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED ACTIVE-DUTY TROOPS DEPLOYING TO THE U.S. - MEXICO BORDER. MILITARY REPORTER ANDREW DYER SAYS THE MISSION IS SIMILAR TO A PREVIOUS BORDER DEPLOYMENT IN 2018.
500 SAILORS AND MARINES FROM THE CAMP PENDLETON-BASED ONE MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE ARE AT THE IMPERIAL BEACH BORDER PATROL STATION TODAY AS PART OF THE NEW MILITARY BORDER DEPLOYMENT ORDERED BY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. ACCORDING TO U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND, THEY’LL SUPPORT U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR . ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS ARE BARRED BY LAW FROM CONDUCTING DOMESTIC LAW ENFORCEMENT WHICH LIMITS THEM TO A SUPPORTING ROLE. ACCORDING TO THE PENTAGON, THE 500 MARINES HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN ON STANDBY TO ASSIST WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRES. THE DEPLOYMENT MIRRORS ONE TRUMP ORDERED DURING HIS FIRST TERM WHEN HE ORDERED 5,000 TROOPS TO THE BORDER JUST AHEAD OF THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. THIS BORDER MISSION IS IN ITS EARLY STAGES AND PENTAGON LEADERS INDICATE MORE TROOPS COULD BE MOBILIZED SOON. AN OFFICIAL WAS NOT MADE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS. ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS.
STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA VISITED SAN DIEGO ON FRIDAY. HE REAFFIRMED HIS COMMITMENT TO UPHOLDING THE STATE’S SANCTUARY LAWS. BORDER REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS SAYS THOSE LAWS WOULD PROTECT CALIFORNIANS FROM SOME OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MOST SEVERE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.
Bonta came to San Diego with a clear message: Ensure everyone follows the state’s sanctuary laws. Like SB 54 – which limits cooperation between local jurisdictions and federal immigration enforcement agencies. “We are very aware of the concerns about SB 54 compliance. We are prepared to act. We have a plan.” “We are monitoring compliance or lack thereof and if there is a failure to comply, we will act.” Bonta heard from several immigrant rights activists who are worried that cities like El Cajon and the Sheriff’s Department may not follow sanctuary laws. For example, Sheriff Kelly Martinez’s decision to ignore a new County policy aimed at limiting the transfer of people from local jails to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells’ efforts to assist federal immigration agencies as much as legally possible. Bonta said his office is closely monitoring each situation. “It’s important to share with us what you’re seeing. Again, we’re not on the ground everywhere. We don’t see what every law enforcement entity is doing or failing to do in terms of compliance.” He called Wells' resolution quote symbolic and performative. Saying cities cannot rewrite state law. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
FILLING A VACANT CITY COUNCIL SEAT IS USUALLY WITHOUT CONTROVERSY. NOT SO IN POWAY, WHERE THE PUBLIC, A NEWLY ELECTED COUNCILMAN AND THE CITY ARE AT LOGGERHEADS. VOICE OF SAN DIEGO REPORTER TIGIST LAYNE HAS BEEN COVERING THE STORY. SHE SPOKE WITH PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER AMITA SHARMA ABOUT THE DUST-UP.
Why is filling Poway City Councilman Brian Pepin's seat so controversial? Well, it it kind of goes back a ways. Poway has with this recent appointment of Brian Pepin's seat, this will be the 4th appointment that Poway's council has made in the past 10 years. So since 2015. And residents are kind of, I think they're just a little bit tired of always opting for an appointment rather than a special election. Some residents think that the council chooses people who will agree with them on certain issues. Like for example, Poway has had a lot of development recently, housing developments. Some that have caused controversy among some residents who think maybe these big developments don't fit into the community character or, they think it's just causing more traffic, more strain on infrastructure, things like that. And with these appointments, there are some residents who believe that city leaders are choosing incoming leaders who will agree with their developer interests or the development interests. Tell me about Poway City Councilman Tony Blaine's role in this controversy. Yeah. So Tony Blaine was recently elected, for the district 2 seat. And he is a controversial figure because leading up to this decision by the council to either appoint or put on a special election for Brian Pepin's seat, he actually sent emails to another council member, Peter de Hoff. And in the emails he was urging de Hoff to vote for a special election or Blaine wrote in the emails that he would continue to lead a recall effort of council member de Hoff. And, that he wouldn't vote for de Hoff to be deputy mayor. So these emails are public because they're between city council members. And the city of Poway actually put those emails into the agenda for this recent January 21st meeting. And people saw the emails. And, it was controversial because it, you know, it is considered vote trading. Kind of like a, if you do this for me, I'll do this for you. Some people, you know, were saying bribery, extortion. There hasn't been a legal decision of it yet because it's it's very recent, but legal experts have said that it could violate state law. So that's kind of how the blame controversy started. I have covered, threats to local elected officials quite a bit. At the same time, I know that strong-arm tactics and politics go hand in hand Is what's happening in Poway a bit of both? Yeah. I mean, this seemed to kind of cross the line, in terms of Tony Blaine's emails. He ran a campaign on keeping things honest, being transparent. He's been very critical during his campaign of the current Poway Council. And he, you know, he's said there's backroom deals and he was running to kind of stop that sort of behavior. it sort of erodes trust in the public even more. And now people are looking at this like what else is going on behind closed doors? Well, that's my next question. I want to ask you about what this controversy says about the public's perception of the Poway City Council. there was already sort of a trust issue, like I said, with all of the appointments in the past. People were already kind of questioning that. And then to see these emails come out. And then also at the January 21st council meeting, the city attorney of Poway, he made some remarks to the public and to blame that, you know, calling him a bully and saying he's intimidated him and harassed him. And it was very shocking and it was another layer to all of this. Tigist Layne, thank you so much for speaking with me today. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
That was Voice of San Diego reporter Tigist Layne speaking with Public Matters reporter Amita Sharma.
Is aging caused by gene expression or changes in the genes themselves? Sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge has more on new research that explores how hard it could be to slow the aging process.
Growing older means getting wrinkles and gray hair, but it also means something is changing at our genetic level. Scientists have found aging can be clearly seen in gene expression, a predictable process that is pretty easy to manipulate. But the UCSD professor who discovered that link ten years ago, Trey Ideker, says new research shows aging may be caused not by gene expression but mutations in our DNA. “It has certainly cast a cautionary note that we should also look at the primary causes of some of those changes which are likely to be in the DNA itself.” He compares gene mutations to lighting strikes that are powerful and unpredictable. Researchers say they found those mutations in human subjects coincide with changes in our epigenetic clocks. If mutations are the true cause, then slowing the aging process becomes much more challenging. UCSD doctoral student Zane Koch, lead author of the study, says the research hasn’t disproved the predictive value of gene expression, what he calls our epigenetic clock. “Now we’re kind of looking back on why those epigenetic clocks tick, and it appears it might be through changes in our DNA in the form of mutations.” Researchers say conclusive proof of their theory will require more research, aimed at better understanding gene mutations. Thomas Fudge, KPBS News.
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 and have a great day.
