City program drops race requirement
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, February 17th >>>>
San Diego dropped the race requirement for a program meant to help households of color.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….#######
Four Joann’s stores in the county are being closed
They’re in San Diego, Poway, Oceanside and San Marcos and among 500 stores across the country being closed.
In March last year the Ohio-based company filed for bankruptcy protection. Last month the company announced another bankruptcy filing, saying the move was in preparation to sell.
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Today (Monday) is President’s day and all county offices, family resource centers, libraries and animal shelters will be closed.
Law enforcement, emergency animal control response, and other essential services will continue through the holiday.
County parks, campgrounds and neighborhood day-use parks remain open.
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Speaking of which, some user fees at County Parks will increase slightly starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
That includes fees for camping, parking, fishing permits, boating rentals, and sport facilities.
Most of the fee increases are a few dollars. For example, Day Use Parking will increase from 3 dollars to 5 dollars per day and an RV partial hook-up campsite will increase from 29 dollars to 35 dollars.
It’s been a decade since fees were raised at county parks.
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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.
San Diego dropped the race requirement for a program meant to help households of color.
Reporter Katie Hyson says a lawsuit claimed it discriminated against white people.
Less than a third of Black households in San Diego own a home, compared to more than half of white households. Racist housing and lending practices created that gap. So in 2023, the city of San Diego began offering grants and loans to help households of color buy homes. They called it a first for the San Diego government to have a race-conscious program. When you tout a program on those terms, you're putting a target on your back. That’s legal analyst Dan Eaton. He says while fourteenth amendment was created to ensure rights for formerly enslaved African Americans the plain text says governments can’t discriminate based on race. That’s the argument the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, or CFER, used to sue. The city dropped race requirements from the program in November and CFER dropped the suit. Eaton says with the current Supreme Court We are going to see more and more of these lawsuits. The San Diego housing commission said only that they’re glad the suit was dropped. CFER called it a victory for equality. Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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Reporter Katie Hyson also has an update for us on the removal of a controversial footnote from city code
A footnote in city code allows developers to build much more densely, only in the Chollas Valley area, which remains majority Black and Latino and low-income. Neighbors discovered the footnote and the city council voted in January to remove it. But Councilmember Henry Foster III added a second action to the motion. To ask city staff to put ending the city’s Accessory Dwelling Unit bonus program on a future agenda. Andrea Hetheru, chairs the Chollas Valley Community Planning Group. It surprised me, surprised probably almost everybody in chambers I'm very disappointed, actually, that it was a compound motion because it shifted the focus from the retroactive repeal of footnote seven to, oh, my God, ADUs. Attorneys for the developer SDRE warned the city that they violated state law. Council members can’t vote or discuss something that wasn’t on the agenda. SDRE is behind some of the city’s largest proposed bonus ADU developments. The council then took the second reading of the footnote removal off this week’s agenda. Until the removal takes effect, any completed applications from developers can be as dense as the footnote allows. Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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Last week (February 12), the Armed Services YMCA opened a new food pantry at Camp Pendleton.
With about one in four military families experiencing food insecurity, KPBS military reporter Andrew Dyer says this new pantry is needed.
“We are deeply grateful for your partnership and the dedication to building a healthier stronger community … “
Marines, donors and volunteers are at the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA for the pantry’s grand opening.
The YMCA says demand is up 65 percent over last year.
Shannon Razsadin is the CEO of the military family advisory network. She says food insecurity in the military is tied to four factors:
One a growing family, two an unexpected hit to the budget three or recent move, and then four challenges with military spouses employment.
Cpl. Jacqulyn Hernandez is a single mother of four toddlers. She says she tries to get the word out to other Marines about the help available.
Because I, I struggle with myself and, I'm going through it. I try to get them to the right place and it definitely pantries do help alot…”
More information on getting help or donating can be found at camp pendleton dot asymca dot org.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
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California has ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse emissions from cars. Are electric cars the answer? Sci-tech reporter Thomas Fudge asks whether the state has the power infrastructure to run all the cars on our roads.
This parking garage is home to one of the car-charging stations at UC San Diego, which is one of the largest public charging hubs in the world. UCSD student Isaiah Cabebe charges his electric hybrid car on campus. “It’s interesting to see how many people drive electric cars here. It’s quite a lot of students so having these outlets, especially with a lot of kids I know who live in condos where they’re not able to charge at home, having these here are really, really helpful.” “So this charger here, from Powerflex. You have an app. David Victor is a professor of Innovation and public policy, who co-directs UCSD’S energy decarbonization initiative. And you turn on the app and you look at the code here and then it tells you what the cost is going to be and then it checks to make sure you have money in your bank account.” Electric cars are a way to slow global warming and also to meet California's clean energy mandates. Ten years from now, our state will allow the sale of only zero emission cars. If the state’s policy goals are met by 2035 all new cars will be effectively electric vehicles, then we’re going to see a lot more electric vehicles on the road, much bigger need for the infrastructure to charge those vehicles, not just at home but also in workplaces and on the roads. That’s because achieving our clean energy goals means transforming the way we get around. The EPA says transportation is the nation’s biggest contributor to carbon emissions. Within transportation, light duty vehicles, cars and pickup trucks, emit 57 percent of all the greenhouse gases. Cars don’t have to be electric to be zero emission. But a lot of people think EV’s just make the most sense. Jae Kim is chair of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at the University of San Diego. “We already have an electric grid, we already have the infrastructure. Whereas if you were to do, for example, hydrogen vehicles, you’d have to start from scratch basically and try to build up that whole infrastructure.” So what will a fleet of mostly electric cars do to California’s power grid? Well, the California Energy Commission forecasts that in 2035 EVs will represent 20 percent of the total energy demand – that California utilities must provide for. In San Diego power demand and grid congestion are lowest overnight, and that’s why it’s cheapest to charge your car overnight. The problem is most overnight power comes from carbon-emitting natural gas plants because renewable sources don’t produce power when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. Victor says that’s why workplace charging is the best option because daylight hours are when carbon-free solar power in California is abundant. “What we’re doing here at UC San Diego is asking the question, suppose in addition to congestion we’re also concerned about the emissions that are caused by our vehicles. And if you add those emissions, it already makes sense to charge in the middle of the day than at night. The tariffs just don’t reflect that yet.” EV owners who own their own homes are most likely to have a home charger but students at UCSD are looking for other places to fill their cars with electrons. Apartment dwellers like Stella Riley, who got a Volkswagen ID.4 about a month ago and almost always charges on campus while she attends classes. I asked her how often she charges her car. “It depends on my mood! If I feel like charging it I will. Normally I wait until it gets a little bit lower because if it’s at 60 percent I won’t charge it but once it gets to 40, I’m like hmmm… I should charge my car.” David Victor says UCSD plans to triple its number of electric car chargers. But as infrastructure needs expand for EVs, there are some possible trends in car ownership that could make them less of a power burden than we might think. Jae Kim says a lot of people predict the future will bring less individual car ownership and more people who rent time from a public fleet of autonomous, self-driving cars. “You could spread out the charging much easier. And you could match the supply and demand for mobility much easier. As a result you could also then match the supply and demand of electricity easier as well.” But for now individual EV owners have to figure out the best time and place to charge, and some people hope that will be during the day. Thomas Fudge, KPBS news.
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There was a raucous meeting of the San Marcos Unified governing board last week (Thursday)…. sparked by a Facebook post.
The post by San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said the district was pushing a policy allowing men in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.
North County reporter Alexander Nguyen says angry parents packed the meeting.
The resolution in question is board resolution 38 … designating San Marcos Unified schools as safe places for all.
It prohibits discrimination and bullying against sexual orientation and gendered identity.
But that’s not what some parents were there to talk about Thursday night.
“I'm here today to advocate for the rights of women and girls to be safe in intimate spaces.”
Parents were reacting to a Facebook post made by Supervisor Jim Desmond Wednesday morning… saying the district was pushing a policy to allow -quote men in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.
Desmond’s office sent us a copy of the agenda item … where it states that the district would provide access to bathrooms and locker rooms that align with students’ and staff’s gender expression.
But the resolution … as voted on Thursday night … did not mention bathrooms or sports…. A change Desmond acknowledged in another Facebook post Thursday …. Saying it happened because of public pressure.
According to the Brown Act … agenda items must be posted 72 hours before the meeting … which would be Monday.
The district says the resolution was not changed after it was posted.
Alexander Nguyen KPBS News
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Kids in Oceanside are learning about food and culture around the world through beans.
Education reporter Katie Anastas takes us to the “Cool Beans Club.” It’s a new program at the Oceanside Public Library.
Beans have this special nutrient that starts with an F. Fiber. That's right. Good job. Barbara Gates leads the program once a month at the library. Each class features a different bean from around the world. Today, it’s soybeans. Kids and caregivers assemble lettuce wraps with mandarin oranges, snap peas and tofu. Five-year-old Gabriel Arango thought it was cheese. Yeah, it’s tofu. I got confused. Cheese and tofu look the same. Along with new foods, kids learn about the cultures connected to them. The lesson on China describes Lunar New Year celebrations, the Great Wall, and the national animal, the panda. Raymond Lyons was there with his granddaughter. It’s teaching them good nutrients, and it’s also teaching them, hey, we’ve got a big, broad world and so we’ve got to take care of it. Next month’s class is about lentils and the Hindu festival Holi. Katie Anastas, KPBS News
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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 and have a great day.
