Flavored tobacco products still being sold

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, October 18th.

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Flavored tobacco products are still being sold despite them being illegal.

More on what the city of San Diego is doing about it, next.

But first... let’s do the headlines….

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San Diegans testified before the United Nations yesterday, about excessive use of force by police in the U-S.

Michelle Celleri is the legal director of Alliance San Diego.

She says human rights committee members pressed U-S officials about why their use of force standard differs from international law.

“When the U.S. didn't respond, and the committee members continued to ask questions about it, it was such a powerful moment . . . Everybody in the audience started clapping. Because it's such an important issue . . . It permeates every part of our country. And everybody there knew it.”

They expect the committee to issue its findings on November fifth, on whether or not the U-S is violating the international human rights law.

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Tomorrow, the 20-23 Great California ShakeOut will happen, when people throughout the state will stop everything for a minute to "drop, cover and hold on."

The statewide earthquake preparedness drill is set for 10-19 A-M.

The annual drill is an opportunity to learn and practice safety during an earthquake, and to be aware of potential hazards after one.

For more information, visit shakeout-dot-org-slash-california.

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It’s going to feel more like summer, today and tomorrow.

The National Weather Service says temperatures will reach up to 16 degrees above normal for this time of year.

Today, temps in the inland areas will reach almost 90, in the deserts it’ll be in the low 100s, in the mountains, temps will be in the high 70s and by the coast, it’ll be in the low 70s.

There will be a heat advisory in effect from 10 tomorrow morning, until 8 tomorrow night in the county’s valley areas where temps could reach the 100s.

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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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Buying flavored tobacco products has been illegal in California since the beginning of the year.

But San Diego's city attorney says they’re still being sold.

Reporter John Carroll says that’s led to renewed calls for enforcement.

City attorney mara elliott did not mince words. “as a mother and a prosecutor, i am appalled by the tactics of the tobacco industry, which continues to manufacture and advertise deadly products with kid-friendly flavors.” at a tuesday news conference, she said those products are still being sold by small markets… but the head of a group that represents local markets says his 200-plus members are all following the law… ron lacey says it’s as much about morality than simply complying with a law. “we’d much rather not make money when it comes to harming our kids than look at our bottom line, or our profit.” the city attorney says if you see flavored tobacco products being sold, take a picture of the display, note the name of the clerk, and email that information to city attorney at san diego dot gov.  jc, kpbs news.

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Vista is developing a cannabis equity program for people who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs.

North County reporter Alexander Nguyen says the city is asking for input from the community.

There are 11 dispensaries in Vista … but the city isn’t looking to open more.The city is looking to see what opportunities might exist for other cannabis-related industries like cultivation and how those could be managed equitably — especially for the people most affected by cannabis prosecution. Earlier this year … Vista received a grant from the state for that assessment. SCI Consulting Group was contracted to do the study. Kyle Tankard is the senior consultant at SCI. He says while Black people make up 3 percent of the city population … they account for 6 percent of cannabis-related arrests. Kyle Tankard SCI Consultant Group “We're continuing to analyze the locations of cannabis arrest to kind of pinpoint specific areas within the city that have been impacted the most” He says the goal of the report is to help guide the city in establishing an equity program. AN/KPBS.

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And in the South Bay, the city of Chula Vista temporarily shut down Harborside Park and is considering closing it for good.

Reporter Kori Suzuki says that’s angered many Chula Vista residents… especially the families living in a mobile home park, just a couple blocks away.

A group of kids race back and forth at a fork in the road. It’s early in the afternoon. The street vibrates with the rush of the nearby freeway, cheers and the twang of a soccer ball. And then – a crash. Several players let out gasps. KEVIN: He kicked the ball and the plant fell! The occasional flying soccer ball has become pretty common here at Brentwood, a mobile home park in Southwest Chula Vista. Dozens of young families live here. The narrow roads are lined with colorful plastic playsets and bright yellow signs that warn cars to drive slow. Ana Ramirez is a parent of one of the soccer players. And she says – all the kids running around has been causing a lot of frustration. ANA RAMIREZ “The neighbors complain because they can break a window, they can destroy their plants. And yeah, they can, but because they’re kids. They don't want to be inside and indoors – like just in the TV or what?.” But right now, kids in Brentwood don’t have anywhere else to go. Harborside Park – the only park nearby – is shut down. The city first opened Harborside Park in 2006. It was a sprawling green place with benches, basketball courts and a wide, grass field. Residents of West Chula Vista, and Brentwood in particular, were really excited. It was the first new park on the west side in over 20 years. Ramirez remembers taking her three kids over to Harborside every Saturday. ANA RAMIREZ “the swings, all the playground, but also my oldest kid loves soccer and basketball. So to have there where they can play soccer and they can play basketball or just to relax or just if a little party reunion with your friends and family there, it was a perfect spot.” And it’s more than just having a place to run around. Elva Arredondo is a professor of behavioral psychology at San Diego State University. ELVA ARREDONDO People who live closer to parks are more likely to be healthier and be more physically active. So there's a very strong link there. For Brentwood residents this new park was one of few green spaces nearby. And it meant a lot that it was just a couple blocks away. In recent years though, unhoused residents, with few places to go in the South Bay, started moving into the park. After a long debate, the city council decided to close Harborside temporarily and kick everyone out. At first, many Brentwood residents were relieved. A lot of them had kids who went to the elementary school next door. And some said the encampment had created an unsafe environment. But months went by. Then a year. The park stayed closed. And then, this past May, the city council made a surprise announcement. They said they were looking at leasing or selling the land that Harborside was on for housing – maybe permanently closing the park. For Ana Ramirez and her neighbors, it was a shock. BRENTWOOD AMBI ANA RAMIREZ  Angry is the word probably. Because the city let us don't hear us. We want the park to be reopened. We want space for our kids to play. And it's been like waiting and waiting. BACK TO KIDS PLAYING Now some Chula Vista residents are lobbying for the park to be reopened. Kevin Valdez is 12 years old and lives in Brentwood. KEVIN VALDEZ “I would like to see the park reopen so we would have more space and more places to go play and other kids can come and hang around and everything.” Nothing has been decided for sure. But Brentwood residents hope city leaders think carefully about this decision – about what exactly it would mean for the westside to lose Harborsideanother Ppark. Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

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Mexican students crossing the border to attend community college in the U-S will pay less for tuition in the new year.

Education reporter M.G. Perez explains why.

Under a  new state law just signed by Governor Gavin Newsom…qualifying students who live within 45 miles of the international border will pay IN-state tuition starting with the spring semester. Currently they pay the out-of state rate which is much higher, so the change will save them hundreds of dollars each year. Juan Manuel Gonzalez is a dual citizen...attending Southwestern College…He’s a freshman with plans to become a nurse…he says he wants to work in a hospital someday… and then get my masters so I can start working and get a better future” The new “in state” tuition law will be rolled out in a pilot program for the next 5 years. MGP KPBS News.

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Coming up.... How a project to make a safer walkway for kids, became a fun and unique experience.

"And they were looking for ways to make it a better crossing for the kids and somehow thought that an artist would be a person to do that."

We’ll have that story, just after the break.

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It’s been said that “music is the universal language of mankind.”

And finding music in an unexpected place can be a fun and unique experience.

KPBS’s Maya Trabulsi tells us about a musical bridge on a freeway overpass in Golden Hill, and talks to the artist and musician who created it more than 20 years ago.

On this busy 25th street overpass in Golden Hill Is something truly unique, and a contrast to the cacophony of urban sounds vibrating through this intersection.  It’s called the Crab Carillon - You may not realize it upon first glance, but it's a musical bridge just waiting to be played. Artist Roman de Salvo created this public art installation in 2003. Hitting wood against fence. He tests out a piece of wood he found nearby. DESALVO “I think it's eucalyptus, which means it's heavy.  It's small but I think it's got enough weight to ring these chimes.” Each segment on the song rail plays a palindrome which means the melody is the same played in both directions. It’s similar to the way a crab walks from side to side, hence the name Crab Carillon.  The melody starts and ends with a Bach-inspired C minor…De Salvo unscrews a long piece of metal taken from our camera’s tripod to use as a mallet.  Instantly, a different sound…but still a little hard to hear over the sound of traffic. De Salvo:  “Ultimately it's a noisy place and that wasn't fully appreciated when I came up with my concept.” The red brass plumbing pipes, chosen for their durability and tunability, were cut to the right length, and then filed precisely for each note. DESALVO “Very precise composition and very precise tuning.” 20 years later, the 300 ft giant metallophone, one of the largest in the world, still works. .   But, the project goes beyond conceptual art.  The bridge was actually commissioned by the city as a civil engineering solution to create a safer walking environment for school children. De Salvo says from a pedestrian standpoint, trying to cross State Route 94 was a hostile experience. DE SALVO “And they were looking for ways to make it a better crossing for the kidst.” And as an artist, he used the environment to exploit the linear space instead of creating something to stop, look at or read.  Using the bridge as an engine to compel people to the other side.  But there is one characteristic of the rails that de Salvo was not aware of until far into the project.. DE SALVO “It’s designed against head entrapment.” Individual stiles had to be added between each note to bring the railing to city code, a detail city engineers didn’t tell him until too late. DE SALVO “Yeah. So when we had to add these things here, these intermediate styles, strumming became a situation where you also are strumming the noise of the railing. That's a note. That's like just adding more noise. So that's why I like to try and play it one to get the tune right, but it's a lot funner to just.” DE SALVO “We sort of made it harder to play, harder to strum without the noise of the ringing of the railing itself. Anyway, that's why it's a trickier thing to play, but ultimately, it's a noisy place, and that wasn't fully appreciated when I came up with my concept.” WATERS “If you look up the chimerail on YouTube, there's all these videos of kids kind of played in the way that Roman and I originally envisioned it.” Joseph Martin Waters composed the palindrome. WATERS “But the result is that you can't do this because in between every one of these things that makes a note, there's a thing that goes like clank. Like this. Loud clank.” He says you have to learn how to think in the language of notes. WATERS “So you have to learn how to think music, which is like a language. It's like language of notes. And I'm writing out the opening to the Crab Carillon right now. Yum bum bum but yum bum, Yeah, so that's the first half of it.” He says it's like a puzzle, which feeds our fascination with patterns. WATERS “It's the most exciting thing we do. It's better than food, it's better than sex. It's like, I want patterns because that's how we make sense of the world.”  But he also didn’t want to make it too simple, but rather something with complexity. WATERS:  “I don't want to write something that's just kind of a dumb song for kids, like something that's forgettable. I want to write something that they can think about musically, like they can really dig into, that it has something they can discover.” WSTERS “And if people found their way into it and discovered the music and took the time, it would be something for them to chew on and think about and come back to.”  Waters went back to the bridge the night before our interview and said he was sad to see it in a (it had been punished by the environment over 2 decades) state of disrepair with chimes missing because of vehicle accidents and environmental wear.  He used paper towels and a bottle of water to clean the information plaque. I think that’s better The Crab Carillon has been punished by the environment over 2 decades…but it has also changed its environment. Much like how the concrete and galvanized steel are built to last, so is its conceptual meaning - finding art in unexpected places. Maya Trabulsi 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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories, plus, we learn how changes to Twitter are impacting scientists. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Wednesday.