Emergency shut offs leave people without power

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz. It’s Thursday, January 9th.

Biden declares a new national monument in Imperial County.

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

S-D-G-and-E has activated its emergency power shut-offs, as gusty winds threaten to down power lines.

Nearly nine-thousand customers were without power Wednesday, and 70-thousand more were at risk of getting theirs shut off.

Sebastian Westerink with the national weather service said that mountain communities could experience wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour starting this (Thursday) afternoon.

He said in the foothills and valleys, gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour are expected starting in the evening and through Friday morning.

And there’s potential for another moderate Santa Ana next week.

That could mean more power shut-offs.

A communications network created by U-C San Diego is sending real-time information to emergency managers dealing with the wildfires in Los Angeles.

The network includes webcams throughout the state, and the video feeds are available to the public in real time through Alert California.

Frank Vernon is a U-C-S-D research scientist, and an investigator for both the HP-wren and Alert California projects.

“Someone calls in a nine one one thing, the fire agencies can look right away and say, ‘Okay, this is something that's significant or not.’ They can incorporate that in all their decision making processes.”

Go to Alert-California dot org for real time updates.

Families of students in the San Diego Unified School District were alerted of a cybersecurity incident Tuesday night.

That’s according to reporting from NBC San Diego.

In a letter to parents, the district said that last month an unauthorized user downloaded student data from PowerSchool, an information system provider used by the district.

PowerSchool says it’s doing an analysis on what information was accessed.

And says they have taken actions to prevent the information from being used.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

President Biden declared a new national monument on the border of Riverside and Imperial County on Tuesday. Imperial Valley reporter Kori Suzuki says the announcement came at the urging of several tribes in southern California.

The new Chuckwalla National Monument designation blocks any future development on six hundred thousand acres of high desert, to the east of the Salton Sea. The landscape there is home to unique ecosystems and is sacred to several tribes, including the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. “My initial reaction was ecstatic and then my second reaction was okay. Now that this happened we need to start working on how we're going to ensure the stewardship of the monument.” Joseph Mirelez is chairman of the Torres Martinez Tribe. He says the tribe is hoping to preserve certain sacred areas. But for the most part, they want the land to be open for everyone to experience. “We want other people to come and enjoy the landscape that we have called home since the beginning of time.” Biden’s announcement comes amid a greater push to recognize land that’s culturally significant to Indigenous people. This week, the president also created a second national monument proposed by tribes – the Sáttítla Highlands Monument – in northern California. One thing his announcement did not include was a third monument proposed by the Quechan Tribe in southeastern Imperial County. A tribe spokesperson said they would continue to advocate for that monument in the future. But she said, all land designations led by tribes were cause for celebration. Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

This week county supervisors took the oath of office for their second terms. But Nora Vargas did not. For our “Why it Matters” segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says we still don’t know why.

Vargas announced last month she would not be serving her second term. The only reason she gave: personal safety and security reasons. Since then, an avalanche of speculation has flowed, but be wary of each of the theories you might hear. I’ll go through some of them. Some have suggested she is facing criminal charges. But one thing a politician never does if they are in trouble, is resign before a deal is made. Often, they use resigning as part of a plea. Staying in office is their leverage. Others think she’s facing too much heat over a pending lawsuit. It alleges Vargas said someone couldn’t have a top county job because he was Asian. A theory has spread that the lawsuit will embarrass Vargas. However, this mess has been lingering for a while. And it will come out whether she’s in office or not. Another reason? It’s quite plausible that she just doesn’t like the job. Vargas has had issues with labor unions, other board members, and former allies in her district. But, if she didn’t like the job, why did she run again? Vargas has repeatedly refused my invitation to discuss her decision. We’ll likely see another special election to fill her seat. And the future of the county is at stake. I’m Scott Lewis from Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters. 

A volunteer is defined as someone who offers themselves for some service or undertaking. But in the case of one young volunteer, that description falls flat. Reporter John Carroll has the story of a teenager who brings joy and peace to a couple navigating a difficult time.

“It’s Arthur.  Hey, hello.  Arthur, come on in.  How’s it going guys?  So nice to see you.” Once a week, Arthur Wang comes to spend a few hours with Barbara and Jeff Sikking. “Let’s go sit over here and see what’s going on for you this week.” This is much more than a social call for the Torrey Pines High School junior.  Wang is here to bring the gift of comfort and companionship to the Sikkings.  “These programs can help relieve burden for caretakers and other people that need to spend many, many hours taking care of people like this.” The caretaker in this case is Barbara, who at the age of 83 now cares for her 81-year old husband, who has Alzheimer’s. Barbara doesn’t call it a burden, more a labor of love. But, caring for someone in cognitive decline is a full-time job… and that’s where Arthur comes in. He has a very personal connection to Alzheimer’s that began long ago. He and his family would travel every year to visit his grandmother in China. But one year, he started noticing changes.. “She kind of forgot me and my other family members. It seemed like she could not recall anyone anymore about who we are and like the connections we had.” That set off a process of discovery. He went online and learned all he could about Alzheimer’s - what causes it, what can be done about it. “And that’s when I discovered Alzheimer’s San Diego, and they specialize in having these activities that advocate, share about what Alzheimer’s is and how to deal with Alzheimer’s, and I first got interested in their youth ambassador program because I wanted to see you know, what is it like to take care of people who have early forms of dementia or Alzheimer’s and what is it like to do that.” Arthur is now well-versed in doing that… He and Jeff have developed a routine…“We like to talk a little bit.  We usually like to go on these walks with the dog. I think it’s very important that we go on these walks, especially for physical health and it’s also a good way to interact with the neighbors, as they’re very friendly. And then once we finish walking, we come back, and usually at this time, I have my bag of goodies where we have all sorts of brain teasers, puzzles… And then usually after that, we continue to talk, sometimes we like to watch TV and really calm ourselves down, especially after like a long walk, we just settle down after that.” The gift of time well spent Arthur brings to Jeff - is given to Barbara as well. “It gives me the opportunity to do whatever I want so that I can go up and use my computer with more… in a relaxed way rather than having a constant companion sometimes. I feel confident that I can go ahead and not put my consciousness… my consciousness can go away from being protective, or concerned, whatever you want to call it and I can do something else that I needed to do also.” But the gift of Arthur’s visits doesn’t stop there. They are also a gift this 16-year old gives himself. “With all the other stresses like academics, sports and other activities, this environment of taking care of someone and like interacting with them is very calming for me.” For those of us of a certain age, the words of our 40th President ring true when thinking about this special teenager. When Ronald Reagan shared his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 1994, he wrote “In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.” It’s safe to say that - without even being aware of Reagan’s words, Arthur Wang is living them out. John Carroll, KPBS News.

A funeral service for former President Jimmy Carter is happening today at the national cathedral.

NPR will provide special coverage starting at 6:30 a.m. Listen or watch at KPBS dot org.

That’s it for the podcast today. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.