Chula Vista has a new city councilmember
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, April 8th.
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Chula Vista has a new city councilmember. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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We’re starting the week with spring-like weather.
Today, temperatures in the inland and coastal areas will be in the mid to high 60s, in the deserts, temps will be in the mid 70s, and in the mountains, it’ll be in the low 50s.
The National Weather Service says it’s expected to get warmer as the week goes on.
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A heads up for property owners in the county.
The deadline to pay the second installment of property taxes is on Wednesday.
The total amount owed county-wide is nearly 9-billion dollars.
A 10-percent penalty fee will be applied for late payments.
Property owners can pay online at S-D-T-T-C DOT COM.
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And a reminder… the solar eclipse is happening around 11 am today.
Here in the county, we will only see a partial eclipse… but you still need eye protection to watch it safely.
Special solar-filtered eclipse glasses are the best option.
Katherine De Kleer is an assistant professor of planetary science and astronomy at Cal Tech, which owns and operates the Palomar Observatory.
“These glasses specially block a certain fraction of light to make sure your eyes are safe if you are looking at the sun in the sky unmagnified.”
De Kleer says eclipse glasses can not be used with a telescope, binoculars, or a camera… they all require their specific filters to be used safely.
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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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Chula Vista has a new city councilmember.
Reporter Kori Suzuki says the appointment late last week brings an end to the months-long saga that followed the criminal case of former councilmember Andrea Cardenas.
The Chula Vista City Council chose Rachel Morineau [MORE-in-oh] – a community engagement director at the nonprofit SBCS – to serve as an interim City Councilmember until the end of the year. Morineau will fill the vacant District 4 seat, which represents Southwest Chula Vista. That seat was left open after disgraced former City Councilmember Andrea Cardenas resigned earlier this year. In February, Cardenas pleaded guilty to stealing $165,000 of federal Covid relief funding and is now awaiting sentencing. The City Council appointed Morineau instead of holding a special election because there was less than a year left in Cardenas’ term when she resigned. Morineau was one of eight finalists interviewed by the City Council. She said she was grateful for the opportunity and committed to staying actively connected to the residents of District 4. “On the real, I am what you get. This is all you get from me is a hard worker, committed, and an open door policy.” In November, voters in District 4 will elect a candidate to serve a full four-year term. Kori Suzuki, KPBS News, Chula Vista.
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U-S Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier (Javier) Becerra was here Friday, as part of a nationwide campaign.
Health Reporter Heidi de Marco says he has a message for organizations serving the Latino and minority communities who are hoping to bring their innovative ideas to life.
The visit was part of Becerra’s National Latino Health Tour where he is teaming up with community partners and health care systems to address health inequities faced by Latinos and communities of color. Becerra emphasized issues like cancer, the leading cause of death among Latinos, and the need for inclusion in clinical trials. BECERRA It’s about making sure we include everybody, whether it's making sure that there's someone who can participate in a trial that's no more than 30 minutes away, or whether it simply means that the product of that research will reach everyone in this country and we'll leave anyone behind. Becerra invited researchers and other innovators from minority-serving institutions across California to explore new ways to improve diversity, access, and inclusion in clinical trials.The event was hosted by SDSU and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, known as ARPA-H - a new federal agency launched in 2022 that funds new and innovative approaches to health. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
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The amphibious assault ship U-S-S Boxer deployed last week for the first time since 20-19.
Military reporter Andrew Dyer has more on what it took to get here, and what makes this deployment important.
It took more than a year in the yards and almost two more in maintenance and repairs to finally get the boxer back at sea and on mission. boxer’s absence from the fleet coincided with the loss of its sister ship, the uss bonhomme richard which was destroyed by fire in 2020. brad martin is a retired navy captain who once commanded an amphibious squadron. now a senior policy researcher at the rand corporation, martin says boxer’s delays will be felt by other ships for years. brad martin, senior researcher, rand corp. there is a cumulative effect because what happens is that one ship stays out longer, run strike, group stays out, longer the shifts are delay. getting into maintenance that just creates a daisy change. it just makes it harder and harder to to catch up with. boxer’s deployment with the 15th marine expeditionary unit is also notable as it’s the first to include the corps’ new amphibious combat vehicle – the replacement of the vietnam war era assault amphibious vehicle. andrew dyer, kpbs news.
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There aren’t enough spots in child care for every kid in San Diego.
Some providers would like to help with that, by expanding their businesses.
But it isn’t easy.
As part of the special KPBS series “Where's My Village,” reporter Tania Thorne looks at the roadblocks.
What do you think, were rolling in dough? This is daycare. Were not starting a crazy business, were not going to be making a bunch of money. …were not going to have a huge profit because were not ripping off families with tuition.. thats not our vibe. Were trying to provide accessible childcare but also quality. Sarah Song and Noelani Acosta spend a large amount of their day surrounded by kids. Our program is an outdoor based program, so we let the children explore and play outside all day and then they just go inside for nap time. They are home child care providers—their business is at Sarah’s house in National City. They can only take 12 kids….. and they'd like to provide care to more. we're open from six to six very long hours, especially since I don't have kids of my own. So I'm literally, like, just taking care of kids for 12 hours. Sarah has a long wait list of families looking for care. If they can expand, they could take on more staff and make a liveable wage. But expanding has been a lot harder than they expected. We've talked to a few owners of properties. They're like, yeah, no, we're not doing that. We're not going to do a daycare facility because that's just a lot of work. But Sarah says it's work that someone needs to do. She wants to expand in her neighborhood in National City. The rejections are really frustrating. Someone has to put in the work to have this accessible to people. So that's the biggest hurdle. They're just like, yeah, no, it's going to be too hard. Childcare has a lot of requirements. Well, yes, because to keep kids safe. Childcare licensing has strict rules. So they could come across the perfect property, but before signing a lease, things like sprinklers need to be brought up to CODE. Those things cost money and take time. we don't have thousands of dollars to just be like, well, it might work out. Let me give you three months rent and we'll see if it works out, ..So while providers struggle to expand, parents struggle to find care. Miren Algorri has been a child care provider for 20 plus years. the cost of living has increased. Now we see more parents having to rejoin or join the workforce right after having their baby. So we get countless phone calls and emails from parents needing childcare services Miren She says the child care workforce is shrinking… It's not growing because no one wants to join a workforce that does not pay a livable wage. and if nothing is done to support the ones still standing, that’s a disaster for PARENTS. I would love for the community and for the elected officials to really come together and look into these issues, that is so crucial because it hinders the economy, the local economy, the state economy, LAURA KOHN Childcare. Sometimes we call it a root cause issue because it is part of, of course, parents being able to work and working parents are a core part of the workforce for our economy. Laura Kohn is the vice presid ent of care and education at Mission Driven Finance. But also it's a core social justice issue because the providers of care in the United States have been under supported and often are providing care out of a sense of mission and commitment, but at a compensation level that isn't equal to the important role that they're playing, Laura’s firm invests money in ways that have social impact. One focus is childcare. Investors give them money to buy sites that are good for childcare. It took more than a year, but finally some success. Our first house is in Lemon Grove, we're also looking at southeast San Diego Spring Valley, la Mesa Their Lemon Grove house is only for one provider. Of course, many other providers are still looking. Both of us grew up poor, so we're like, we want it accessible for people like us who live down here Sarah and Noelani are st ill looking for a bigger spot in their neighborhood. So we want to make sure there's an option that's more similar to what a re available up northern San Diego or central and north San Diego down here. But with very little support, providers like Sara and Noelani are left with very few options… And a very long wait list of parents looking for care.
TAG: That was Tania Thorne reporting.
For the full series, go to kpbs dot org slash where's my village.
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Reporter Tania Thorne also tells us that the colorful bulbs at the Carlsbad Flower Fields are at peak bloom right now.
Waves of pink, yellows, oranges, and white fill the Carlsbad coast. The FF opens every year on March 1 and we usually close on Mothers Day. So if you're planning to come to the FF hurry up and make your plans because we've only got 5 weeks left before we're done. Fred Clarke is the general manager. He’s been with the flower fields for 18 years. Thousands of people visit the flower fields every year, and Clarke says they try to provide something new every time. This year... Its a live muralist. Other activities include wagon rides, floral workshops, sunset experiences and more. Tickets must be purchased online before arriving. TT KPBS News.
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I love seeing all the beautiful blooms at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. 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. I hope you got to catch the solar eclipse today! I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Monday.
