Ex-nursing aid guilty of sexual assault
Good Morning, I’m Matt Hoffman. It’s Thursday March 31st.>>>>
A former nursing home worker found guilty of sexual assault..More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
A sailor accused of setting fire to San Diego-based USS Bonhomme Richard will go on trial in September.. Ryan Sawyer Mays is charged with arson and willful hazarding of a vessel – for allegedly starting the fire in July 2020 while the ship was docked at Naval Base San Diego. The fire took several days to get under control. The ship itself was later declared a loss and decommissioned. Prosecutors alleged that Mays was ``disgruntled'' with the Navy after dropping out of the SEAL training program. Mays denies the allegations.
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Today is a state holiday honoring the late Cesar Chavez…co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union.
California is one of ten states with a public holiday for Chavez,
Many government offices are closed in observance of the holiday.. San Diego County-operated vaccination and testing sites are on that list. Some county recreation centers will also be closed. In the city of San Diego trash pickup will continue as scheduled.. Those who get their trash picked up by private contractors should check their pickup schedules. City pools, libraries and all the public buildings in Balboa park will be closed today.. But if you’re leaving the house today, there’s some good news -- all parking meters, time restrictions and yellow zones won’t be enforced.
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The omicron subvariant that caused COVID-19 cases to skyrocket in the U-K.. is now the dominant strain of the virus here in the U-S.
The C-D-C says BA-2 now accounts for nearly 55-percent of all COVID cases.
Health officials warn the highly contagious variant-- coupled with lower mask use-- may cause an uptick in cases.
Dr. Eric Topol is director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla.
"It's hard to know how bad this wave is going to be because we've recently gotten through such a big one with the omicron BA.1. And in fact, it's estimated that about 40% of Americans got BA.1 and there was a huge number of breakthrough infections because it just spread so easily. This one can be worse but we have some immunity built."
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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A former caregiver was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a local nursing home.. An El Cajon jury made the decision yesterday, after hours of deliberation.. KPBS’s Amita Sharma says the jury deadlocked on whether the caregiver attacked two other alleged victims.
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The jury took 10 ½ hours to find ex-certified nursing assistant Matthew Fluckiger guilty on two counts of committing a forcible lewd act on a dependent by a caretaker…plus, a third count of committing a lewd act, but without using force. All three counts were for acts on a woman who lived at Parkway Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation in La Mesa. But the jury hung on whether Fluckiger sexually assaulted two other women at different nursing homes. Eleven jurors said he was guilty. One disagreed. No word yet on whether prosecutors will retry that portion of the case. Amita Sharma, KPBS News.
TAG:Fluckiger’s lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.
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Contract negotiations resumed yesterday between the employees and owners of three major southern Cal grocery chains. orkers at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons are preparing for a strike if a deal can not be reached. KPBS reporter Tania Thorne spoke to grocery workers hoping for a resolution.
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The United Food and Commercial Workers union has authorized a strike if progress isn't made in the negotiations. The union is asking for a raise of five dollars an hour over three years. The latest offer from the stores was a dollar-80 an hour.
But Mike Ryan, a union steward and worker at the ALBERTSONS in RANCHO BERNARDO says they are staying optimistic.
“I was told both sides have met halfway on certain things. I see some positive things from the conversation they've been having. The Union has been doing a great job of keeping us informed.”
While Ryan hopes an agreement will be reached, other workers aren’t taking their chances and are preparing for a strike.
On Wednesday members met at their union headquarters to make picket signs in case a strike is called.
TT KPBS News
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Today’s Cesar Chavez state holiday has deep roots in San Diego County.
Students here have organized services clubs in honor of the late leader.
KPBS Education Reporter M.G. Perez has more.
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Since 2000, when California recognized the holiday…Cesar Chavez Service Clubs have been organized in elementary and high schools across San Diego County.
Their mission is to follow one of the late farm leader's core values–Help Someone.
During the pandemic, service club students called “Chavistas”…raised more than 2-hundred thousand dollars for a relief fund to help families in need pay for food, rent, and medications.
In turn, the Chavistas also get support.
Jonathan Burgos is a mentor who walks students through the tough college application process.
SOT 49:37-49:48 “Our Chavistas deserve careers that are not just high-paying but have full benefits. That’s the way we can raise our communities out of generational poverty…through colleges.”
This year, Chavistas have been accepted to schools like U-S-D and the University of Chicago. MGP KPBS News.
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PEOPLE LINED UP FOR HOURS IN CHULA VISTA yesterday TO GET FREE GAS. KPBS REPORTER KITTY ALVARADO TELLS US SOME WERE RUNNING OUT OF GAS JUST WAITING IN LINE.
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GAS ME UP 1 TRT 1:03
Morning, number one
TO BE NUMBER ONE … THAT DRIVER LEFT HER HOME AT 4 AM, BY 7 A.M., THE LINE FOR THE GAS GIVEAWAY IN CHULA VISTA WAS HOURS LONG …SO LONG, CAR BATTERIES DIED DURING THE WAIT, OTHERS ON THE BRINK OF RUNNING OUT OF GAS.
AND SOME SIMPLY GAVE UP …
I’m about to head to work right now …
THE PROBLEM.. SHE WAS STUCK BETWEEN THREE ROWS OF CARS WITH NO WAY OUT
BUT FOR MANY, LIKE BARBARA, BRUCE THIS WAS A WAY OUT … A WAY TO LESSEN THE PAIN OF HIGH GAS PRICES
food of course we cut way back I go to the grocery store and I just get upset,
THE GAS GIVEAWAY WAS ORGANIZED BY SHANE HARRIS AND PEOPLE’S ASSOCIATION OF JUSTICE ADVOCATES … HARRIS SAYS GAS PRICES ARE FORCING WORKING CLASS FAMILIES TO MAKE TOUGH CHOICES AND CALLED OUT POLITICIANS WHO PROMISE RELIEF
These people are coming down to serious decisions, so it should not be hard for our elected officials to have a heart
KITTY ALVARADO KPBS NEWS
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Coming up.... Spring break is here for thousands of local students, but for some the learning hasn’t stopped. More on that next.
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This week is spring break for many students across the County.
…but the learning hasn’t stopped for some young kids who are working on their own original short films.
KPBS Education Reporter M.G. Perez takes us to City Heights for the story.
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The Media Arts Center of San Diego and the San Diego Foundation are sponsoring the movie-making camp for elementary school spring breakers, this week. The 6-to-12-year-old students are learning every part of the production process …including scriptwriting, directing, editing, and sound design.
Even at this young age, there are creative differences. Devone Jones is one of the teaching artists…
SOT “you have two different perspectives, if you can combine them together it makes it even better. If not…you have to take one for the team… ‘ok I’ll do your idea this time, next time we’re going to do my idea.”
Scholarships and grant money helped many children attend for free at the City Heights Library Idea Lab. Their movies premiere with a showcase for parents and friends Friday. MGP KPBS News
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Michael Mizerany (miz-er-rain-ee) has worked as a choreographer most of his career but more recently has turned his attention to playwriting and to horror. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando says his new play “A Twisted Bargain” premieres Friday at Tenth Avenue Arts Center.
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The infamous Leopold-Loeb case from the 1920s inspired Michael Mizerany to write “A Twisted Bargain.” He wanted to explore why two young men would want to kill a 14-year-old boy just to see if they could execute the perfect crime.
MICHAEL MIZERANY: I wanted to write a play about where I thought their minds were. I think a lot of it has to do with true crime. I have a desire to better understand the unthinkable capacity for cruelty and what makes a person tick and think like that, because I think I could never do that. But I really want to understand why a person could.
Mizerany has moved the story up to the present day and to San Diego.
CLIP We have to plan the details. La Jolla Cove?...Torrey Pines Gliderport. People have died there before. They bounce off every crag, every ledge before they hit bottom. Very easy to stumble and lose your balance… especially if you are drunk.
"A Twisted Bargain" is the first of three plays in what Mizerany is calling a "Thrillogy." A Twisted Bargain premieres Friday and runs through April 10 at The Forum Theater at The Tenth Avenue Arts Center in downtown San Diego.
Beth Accomando, 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 Matt Hoffman. Thanks for listening we’re one day away from Friday. We’ll catch you tomorrow
