Federal funding freeze impacts San Diego

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, February 25th. >>>>

Local leaders say the federal funding freeze is having an impact here.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Yesterday (Monday) the city held the first of a series of community meetings to receive feedback on charging single family households for trash pickup.

In 2022, San Diego voters elected to repeal the People’s Ordinance with Measure B. The city is now allowed to collect fees for trash and recycling collection from homeowners.

The next community meeting is on Monday, March 3 at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library. You can find the full meeting schedule at K-P-B-S dot org.

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Demolition of the damaged portion of the Oceanside Pier is now complete.

According to reporting from the San Diego Union Tribune, crews have removed the last of the buildings and decking destroyed by a fire last April.

The demolition cost the city of Oceanside nearly 2 million dollars and city officials have said rebuilding the pier could come with a 17 million dollar price tag.

According to the city, a design for the rebuilt pier could be ready by next year and construction would begin in 2027, but only if the funds are available.

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Music icon Elton John will be in San Diego to perform in a one-night-only benefit concert at Petco Park.

John will appear at the 2025 Concert for Cures on May 9th.

Pre-sale tickets for the benefit concert will be available on March 4th.

All-access tickets will go on sale March 7th at 10 a.m.

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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 leaders are warning that the freeze on federal funding could have an impact on housing and disaster relief, healthcare, and food assistance.

KPBS reporter Tania Thorne says county officials are preparing to mitigate the impact.

On Monday, San Diego County supervisor, Terra Lawson Remer, warned of the impact the federal funding freeze is having in the community.

San Diego County depends on federal funding for everything from emergency responses and public health, to housing assistance and behavioral health care.

She says the freeze is stopping funding that is meant to come back into the community.

these are not handouts from Washington. Local San Diegans pay billions of dollars in federal taxes every single year, and that money is meant to come back to our community to fund essential services.

Lawson-Remer said the County will be asking federal leaders for clarity on the funding freeze.

But San Diegans could begin to see a reduction in services.

Tania Thorne KPBS News

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The source of a listeria outbreak that has sickened more than two dozen and killed 11 people since 2018 has finally been discovered.

Health reporter Heidi De Marco says the bacteria was found in frozen nutritional shakes.

The shakes—sold by the brands Lyons ReadyCare and Sysco Imperial—were sent to nursing homes, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. UCSD health geriatrician Ian Neel says symptoms can take weeks to show up.

"we get nausea, we get vomiting. Sometimes it could present as back pain, and then also all the basic flu, like symptoms, muscle aches and fatigue, chills fever, inability to keep food down."

The FDA told the companies to stop selling and customers to stop serving the shakes on Friday. They say they are working with the CDC and local agencies to track the multistate outbreak. So far, no San Diego County hospitals or nursing homes have reported cases linked to the recalled shakes. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News

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A new children’s book puts West African culture in the next generation’s hands and ears.

Reporter Katie Hyson says the local author is passing it forward.

For centuries, African people have shared their histories through oral storytelling.

And that’s how JP Hales-Ba learned his. His dad read him West African folktales at bedtime.

Even when learning about some of the more tragic things in my lineage, it gave me a sense of dignity.

When Hales Ba’s friends started having kids, he wanted them to have that experience.

So he wrote a children’s book, Jawara’s Journey.

In it, a boy goes through the Bassari Manhood ritual. And learns how so many generations of Africans in the diaspora have kept their traditions alive.

It's critical that we understand our history doesn't start here. It doesn't start because we came here under duress . . . We had a history before that and . . . we've retained it. 

That lesson matters. Some studies show Black children who learn about their heritage before slavery tend to have higher self esteem and school performance.

The book is keeping heritage alive in more ways than one.

Through March, Hales-Ba will be donating the proceeds to fire relief in Altadena.

It's been a black community in Los Angeles County for decades . . . So a lot of people, we’re all pulling together our resources to help keep that community what it's been.

Jawara’s Journey is available on Amazon.

Katie Hyson, KPBS News

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Last March, Coop’s West Texas Barbecue in Lemon Grove almost closed its doors. But owner Bradrick Cooper came up with a new business plan to survive post-COVID.

Arts and culture reporter Beth Accomando explains what makes Coop’s unique.

Just over fourteen years ago Bradrick Cooper walked into the old Fargo’s BBQ joint.

And when I saw these pits, I was just like, It's on, it was like the chimes of heaven, aaaahhhh!

There’s a lot of history in those pits.

These pits have got to be almost 40 years old because the person that built them was from the Fargo family, which was a barbecue spot that was in the '80s. These pits, they're very unique. Not very many of them in the United States, period. You can't make these pits anymore. They’re grandfathered in, and I'm glad I got one.

The pits are brick ovens that burn wood a few feet below where the meat cooks.

You're getting a process of grilling and smoking at the same time…and I think it gives our meat a little bit more flavor. Give me a brick oven pit any day, and I'll go up against anybody.

And he’d probably win based on what I’ve tasted. Cooper or Coop as people call him, has been cooking on these pits almost everyday for more than a decade, serving up what he calls “legendary barbeque” at Coop’s West Texas BBQ in Lemon Grove. It’s BBQ made the way his father taught him in Texas.

It is true, authentic barbecue, Texas-style barbecue.

That means using a dry rub and serving the meat with sauce on the side so you can really taste the meat and judge Coop’s skill as a pit master. But Coop never planned to run a restaurant. He worked as a registered nurse for 12 years but was always cooking.

During those times, every weekend, I would pack up plates, around 50 plates, put them in a cooler, and I would ride around to beauty shops from La Mesa all the way down to Chula Vista, to all the Black-owned beauty shops and barbershops.

Then in 2010 he opened Coop’s as a storefront. One of his first customers encouraged him to list his business on Yelp so he and his friends could write reviews.

I didn't even know what Yelp was. They gave me five-star reviews. Before I knew it, this place was full of white folks.

But as with a lot of businesses, Coop’s faced challenges during COVID.

I guess people who went through the Great Depression, they'll never forget it. COVID, I believe for our generation, that's one of those things that will never be forgotten. We stayed open. We felt like heroes, like we were wearing capes when we were here every day and people are coming in and getting the food.

The toughest part, though, was post-COVID. Not only did the cost of goods go up but so did gas prices.

Coop’s has always been considered a barbecue destination. People coming from all over Southern California, North County, down south, they're coming from everywhere.

But higher gas prices led people to find BBQ closer to home.

'23 was the worst year ever. I mean, it was like a ghost town right here... Pretty much getting ready to close our doors in March of '24.

But when he posted that he would be closing, people suddenly lined up down the block.

And so I'm bending over, got tears coming out of my eyes. When I come up, I was like, Where you guys been? And everybody starts laughing. And I was like, No, I mean, as funny as it sounds, I said, I'm serious. I said, we've been kicking out all this wonderful food, and nobody's been coming to eat it.

That support inspired Coop to experiment with a new business plan.

I'm going to do it like a Texas barbecue joint. I'm going to open up Friday, Saturday, Sunday, serving you guys fresh barbecue…10 to 3 or when we sell out, hopefully we sell out every weekend.

And while the lines haven’t stretched down the block again, Coop has been able to keep himself and his hard-working three-person staff employed.

…It's been a blessing that our doors are still open. We're not out of the red yet, but we're still open. And I thank God for that. As long as he gives me the energy, the desire, the passion that I have for doing this, I'm going to keep doing it.

So if you are driving down Lemon Grove Avenue, look for smoke coming out of Coop’s Big Mouth smoker out front.

… So we call those Texas stop signs. Anytime there's smoke coming out of a metal container, you're assuming that it's barbecue and you can't help but look and want to come check it out or come see what the person is cooking.

Coop is always cooking classics like brisket and ribs but he also experiments with creations like smoked chicken enchilada pie or BBQ spaghetti. Hope that whets your appetite, and apologies that you can’t taste or smell what’s coming out of those brick pits.

Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

Coop’s West Texas Barbecue has been cooking since 2010 in Lemon Grove and is only open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until it sells out.

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.