Efforts to put in more traffic safety measures underway
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, September 19th.
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San Diego looks into making it easier to put in traffic safety measures, like crosswalks. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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Chula Vista is officially moving forward with its own restrictions on homeless encampments.
But the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city is down this year.
The city council’s unanimous vote earlier this week (Tuesday) drew strong criticism from advocates for unhoused people.
Including Chula Vista resident Silvia Irigoyen-Adame, who said her daughter recently died while living in an encampment.
“There’s no helping. Nobody’s helping them. If they fall, they don’t need to be smashed and hit, made feel more like crap. They need more support. They don’t need to be incarcerated.”
Council members said the ban was necessary to support the city’s housing and homelessness staff.
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San Diego Superior Court officials are warning San Diegans about a telephone scam where callers threaten arrest or fines for missing jury duty.
Some victims have been told to get a money order or cash and
meet a “court clerk” near a county courthouse to pay a fine.
The scammers sometimes have the person’s address to make the scam seem legit.
But superior court officials say the court does not make telephone calls to ask for money or threaten arrest.
If you get one of these phone calls, officials say to hang up.
If the scammer keeps calling, you should contact law enforcement.
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We’re nearing the end of the summer season, and more fall-like weather is in store for us today (Thursday) and the rest of the work week.
The National Weather Service says the highest chance of rain is this morning (Thursday).
It’s also expected to be windy in most parts of the county today, with gusts reaching up to 20 miles per hour.
Today (Thursday) in the inland and coastal areas, temperatures will be in the low 70s, in the mountains, temps will be in the high 50s, and in the deserts, it’s expected to be in the high 80s.
Temps are expected to rise over the weekend.
The first day of fall is Sunday.
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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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The San Diego City Council wants to make it easier to install traffic safety measures like crosswalks and speed humps.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen has more.
AB: The council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution declaring safety is the number one priority when it comes to transportation. It comes after many residents complained city policies are too restrictive around traffic calming. Even locations where pedestrians have been killed sometimes don't meet the city's criteria for safety improvements. Council President Sean Elo-Rivera says that needs to change. SER: And when I hear from community members that they can't get a traffic safety measure implemented on their street because it does not satisfy some specific scoring criteria, it bothers me. It bothers me because it's a resident of my district who simply wants to feel safer living in their neighborhood and they are running into barriers. AB: The council asked the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst to present options for how to better instill safety into the city's transportation policies. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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The F-B-I is warning of a new scam targeting teens.
It involves extorting teens over sexually explicit photos.
Here’s reporter Alexander Nguyen with what parents can do to protect their children.
Sextortion involves scammers convincing teens to send sexually explicit images or videos to them and then threatening to release those photos or videos unless the victim pays up or produces more. But Gregory Hansen with the FBI says this type of scam is increasing at an alarming rate.“We had one, six month period where I think we had, went from about 5800, tips up to, over 6000, and, and it's, it's we're seeing about a 20 to 30% increase from prior years.” And that has deadly consequences.“there's one such story where minor male ended up being contacted 11:00 at night by about 4 a.m., maybe even earlier. Had already taken his life.” Hansen says the best way to deal with these scammers is to block and report them. And parents also need to talk to their teens about online safety. The best way to prevent sextortion is for it not to happen in the first place. AN/KPBS.
TAG: If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide, you can call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.
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Our Public Matters partner, inewsource, has a new program called San Diego Documenters.
It trains and pays people to attend public meetings and create a record of what happens.
The program coordinator, Isaac Brambila, and inewsource managing editor Jamie Self joined KPBS's Maya Trabulsi to share more.
Question: So to start, What are the Documenters? Isaac Answer… - You explained it well, But it goes beyond that, we’re trying to engage people who want to help their communities understand what decisions are being made at the local government level and how it impacts them. These people are often already civically curious, but are looking for a way to get involved. - Our program is part of a national network of Documenters operating in 19 communities across the US, and we’re the first in southern California and currently the only one active in the state. -We partner with libraries, schools and other community organizations to conduct the trainings and are the first to offer trainings in Spanish and English. Question: Why did inewsource bring the Documenters to San Diego? Jamie Answer -We’ve all witnessed the decline of local news, and we recognize it’s a huge problem. To put it in perspective, there are hundreds of public bodies in San Diego County. We estimate about 300 in the South Bay alone. Each meets multiple times a year. That adds up really quickly. And professional journalists in San Diego barely cover any of them. So the result is most of the decisions being made on the public’s behalf happen without anyone watching. And when people don’t know what government is doing, they can’t effectively advocate for themselves. Question: So how do the Documenters address these problems? Answer: Isaac. So, first, the Documenters help identify news tips that fuel our journalism. We’re in San Diego and the South Bay now, but the vision is to expand. But a second, and equally important part of this vision, is connecting journalism with the communities news organizations try to serve. We hear all the time about how people don’t see themselves in the news and don’t feel like they can trust the media. This program puts community members and journalists in rooms together, where they talk about the importance of keeping watch over local government and the skills needed to do the work. Question: Tell us more about what community members get out of being part of the program. Isaac Answer: Well, first, Documenters are trained to do some of the basic reporting that professional journalists do. They learn how to cover meetings accurately, and simply put, get the quotes and the votes. But getting involved in that way also connects them to the bigger work being done. Their notes might be used by a reporter, and they'll get recognition for that in the article. They get connected to other Documenters as well and so they become a part of a bigger community of people who care about the decisions being made in their communities. inewsource also conducts trainings in Spanish -- we're actually the first program in the US to do so -- which means community members who only speak Spanish or are more comfortable in that language can get involved, too. One goal of our new Public Matters partnership is to help each of us better connect to one another and get involved in shaping how local decisions are made. How does the Documenters program meet these goals? Answer: Jamie At the heart of this program is community – and community empowerment. And we see the Documenters as being a driver of democracy, which is increasingly under threat. To see community members realize how much power there is in showing up to meetings and creating a public record of what happened is truly heartening. It’s the same feeling professional journalists get when we report and publish news that informs people what’s going on in their communities or – better – leads to positive change.
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Another aspect of our new Public Matters initiative, is something we’re calling Why It Matters.
It’s with our other partner on the project, Voice of San Diego.
In the first installment, C-E-O Scott Lewis explains a recent kerfuffle in the local Republican party, and… why it matters.
Here’s the background: For the last 20 years, nobody has been more prominent or influential in the local Republican Party than Carl DeMaio. But now, the party is going all in to support his opponent in a closely watched Assembly race. They are denouncing DeMaio in a way that would have been unthinkable last year. Earlier this month, Republican Party Chair Corey Gustafson released an open letter encouraging Republicans to support Andrew Hayes in the 75th Assembly race. And here’s why it matters: Parties can help candidates in three major ways: Raise and spend unlimited funds communicating with members Include candidates on slate mailers showing party endorsements Promote the candidate in voter guides Now all of that is on the table for Hayes.
TAG: To learn more about Public Matters, go to kpbs dot org slash public matters.
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If your child doesn't want to be a Halloween costume repeater this year and you're wondering what to do with last year’s costume, here's an idea.
A local nonprofit, Support the Enlisted Project, or STEP, is holding a Halloween costume drive for children of military families on limited budgets.
The organization is seeking to collect 600 new or gently used costumes for newborns to children up to 13-years-old.
You can drop off a costume through September 30th at STEP's warehouse in Scripps Ranch, or at the Barron Team's office in Scripps Ranch.
Once the drive ends, the costumes will be distributed at STEP's monthly distribution event on October 19th.
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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. In tomorrow’s podcast, our KPBS arts reporter joins me to talk about the new fall arts guide. Join us again for that, plus the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
