Fletcher to be replaced in election
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, May third.
Voters will be electing a new County supervisor this summer.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The Biden Administration is sending 15-hundred active-duty troops to the border, in anticipation of an influx of migrants when Title 42 ends next week.
The White House says the troops will serve in administrative roles, so Border Patrol agents can focus on their law enforcement duties.
The troops will be deployed for 90 days, and will be pulled from the Army and Marine Corps.
Title 42 is a covid era restriction that has been used to turn away asylum seekers at the border.
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As of this week, you have to have a license to operate a short term vacation rental in the city of San Diego.
There are four types of licenses offered.
Tier 1 for part-time rentals, Tier 2 for rentals that are a portion of a home, Tier 3 for whole-home rentals not in Mission Beach, and Tier 4 for whole-home rentals in Mission Beach.
You can still apply for a license for everything except whole home rentals in Mission Beach.
The cap for those has been reached.
There’s also a cap for whole home rentals not in Mission Beach, but according to NBC 7 there are still 1,800 licenses available.
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San Diego Community College District Chancellor Carlos Cortez has resigned.
District officials say Cortez is stepping down to care for his parents, who are experiencing health issues.
The district's Vice Chancellor of People, Culture and Technology Services, Greg Smith, will serve as acting chancellor while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement.
Cortez became the district's chancellor in July 20-21, after serving six years as president of the district's College of Continuing Education.
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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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Voters in San Diego, La Mesa and Lemon Grove will be electing a new county supervisor this summer.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen has more on the upcoming vacancy in District 4.
The vacancy was created by the resignation of nathan fletcher, who's been accused of sexual harassment and assault. he denies the allegations, but said he would resign effective may 15. The remaining four supervisors voted to fill the seat not by appointment but by calling a special election. District 4 resident Patricia Mondragon said that's the right choice." Given that we are only 4 months into a 48-month term, it is vital to a functioning democracy that voters get to choose who will be representing us as a supervisor for the next 4 years, and potentially 8." Two democrats have already entered the race: veterans advocate janessa goldbeck and san diego city council-member monica montgomery steppe. Andrew Bowen, kpbs news.
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Internal affairs found that a San Diego police officer was involved in an elaborate and strange domestic violence incident.
But records show he has faced few consequences.
inewsource investigative reporter Jill Castellano has the story.
"CASTELLANO: A long and unusual Internal Affairs report was released this year about former San Diego Police Officer Cesar Alcantara. It found that Alcantara had staged his suicide with fake blood and shot a gun off in his home. Plus, he messaged sex workers while on duty four times, including at a homicide scene. MOSELEY: I looked at the pictures and the allegations, and it was disturb, it is disturbing. CASTELLANO: That’s Sharmaine Moseley, the director of the city’s Commission on Police Practices. She reviewed the case records for inewsource. CASTELLANO: But what’s NOT in those records is just as telling – Alcantara resigned before the investigation was over, so he was never disciplined. The District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute him. AND Alcantara has not been decertified, meaning he’s still eligible to be a police officer in California. CASTELLANO: Taken together, all of this highlights the shortcomings of the systems designed to protect the public from problematic and potentially dangerous law enforcement officers. MOSELEY: It’s a challenge, you know. It’s something that everybody has to look at as a whole and be able to think of ways that these investigations can actually hold officers accountable for their behavior. CASTELLANO: The events in the report began just after Mother’s Day in 2020. Alcantara’s girlfriend was at the beach alone because the two had been fighting. Then, he sent her graphic images of self-harm, demanding she return to the house. CASTELLANO: Here’s how his girlfriend later explained to police what happened when she came home. IA WITNESS TAPE: He was laying on the ground, like, like, like pretending that he had shot himself… How did it make it seem like he had shot himself? There was like ketchup or something on the ground around him. CASTELLANO: When she realized he was unharmed, she ran upstairs. Then… she heard a gunshot. IA WITNESS TAPE: I hear ‘bang’…. So I come back downstairs and I’m like, what the [**BLEEP**] was that, right? And there’s a, there’s a hole in our hardwood floor right in the living room. CASTELLANO: The incident was not reported to police at the time, but the next year, a rumor circulated at the station about a gun going off at Alcantara’s house. He denied everything. IA SUBJECT TAPE: OK. Officer Alcantara, the San Diego Police Department personnel has provided information regarding a possible domestic violence incident. Do you have any idea why these allegations would be brought to the department’s attention? No sir. CASTELLANO: Alcantara’s girlfriend eventually came forward to police. She was actually an officer with the department too. Investigators searched their home and found physical evidence – bullet fragments, a hole in the floorboards and even a bottle of stage blood. Plus, screenshots showed Alcantara was messaging sex workers while on duty. CASTELLANO: The police records list several criminal offenses, including shooting a gun in an inhabited dwelling. That can carry a seven-year prison sentence. But Alcantara was not prosecuted. CASTELLANO: Moseley said she found the DA’s decision interesting. MOSELEY: You’re thinking about an officer engaging in misconduct. If you compare it to an average community member, you take those two and you compare it, right would the DA have thought the same thing? CASTELLANO: The DA’s Office said it treats all cases the same, regardless of who the alleged offender is. They said no criminal offenses met the necessary burden of proof to prosecute. CASTELLANO: Alcantara did not respond to requests for comment. Alcantara’s girlfriend, who left the force late last year, declined to comment. CASTELLANO: For KPBS, I’m inewsource investigative reporter Jill Castellano."
If you or a loved one is having thoughts of suicide, contact the Suicide and Crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.
inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS.
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The future of a medication used for abortion is in the hands of federal courts..
The supreme court says mifepristone can still be used while a lawsuit plays out..
Health reporter Matt Hoffman says the medication has a variety of uses outside of ending early pregnancies.
You’ve probably heard about the legal battle over the fda’s approval of mifepristone, it was first approved more than 20 years ago.. and the fda says mifepristone is safe to use, but opponents argue its risks were not properly reviewed. the medication is most commonly used in a regimen for early term abortions, but doctors use it in other ways too. dr. danielle vachon is an obgyn with uc san diego health.. dr. danielle vachon, ucsd health obstetrician-gynecologist obgyns have found so many wonderful uses for this medication anywhere from making miscarriage management more effective and associated with fewer side effects to shrinking one of the most common benign tumors of the uterus vachon says if mifepristone’s use was rescinded it wouldn’t stop medical abortions or management of miscarriages, as there are other safe treatments.. but she says those typically have more side effects. mh kpbs news.
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Coming up.... We hear about a new exhibit at the surf museum in Oceanside. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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There may be a long wait for the train tracks through San Clemente to open up again.
San Clemente mayor Chris Duncan says the ground is still moving on a slope above the tracks.
Falling debris closed the tracks down last week.
“It's gonna be a long process because year, we don't even have things stabilized right now. and so we certainly can't do any work or get up on that hillside. we might do more damage than good if we got up there right now with trying to do anything.”
The unstable slope is under a city landmark called "Casa Romantica."
It’s where founder of San Clemente, Ole Hanson, lived in 19-27.
And is now used as a venue for weddings, music, art and cultural programming.
Duncan says San Clemente doesn't have the funds to repair the historic site and the slope, and is hoping the federal government will step in.
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A new exhibit at the surf museum in Oceanside reveals the science behind surfing.
North County reporter Alexander Nguyen visited the exhibit during its opening week.
“Good morning, Scott Bass with your morning surf report…” Longtime listeners of KPBS depend on Scott Bass’s daily report to see if the waves are good that day. But have you wondered how those reports are so accurate? A new exhibit at the California Surf Museum in Oceanside delves into the science of surfing … which includes a look at how waves are formed and how they can be forecast. Jim Kempton is the Surf Museum’s president. He says the exhibit was funded by a grant from the city of Oceanside. Jim Kempton President, California Surf Museum “The Science of Surfing has a number of different components. One of them is about the shape of the shoreline” There are exhibits showcasing how math can make you a better surfer as well as the engineering marvel behind the surfboard. “If you have a board that you want to be really fast, you have a different kind of shape. If you have a board that's made for really big waves or really small waves, you'll design a different board.” The exhibit is on display through the end of the year. AN/KPBS.
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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. Tune in tomorrow for the top local stories of the day, plus, a story about San Diegans who are volunteering their time to create more police accountability. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
