Gov. Newsom in San Diego to support Proposition 1

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, March first.

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We hear about Governor Newsom’s trip to San Diego to rally support for Prop. One.

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

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Two Disaster Recovery Centers are opening today (Friday), to help flood victims from last month’s storms.

FEMA worked with the county, city of San Diego and the state to set them up.

The recovery centers will be located at the Spring Valley County Library and the Mountain View Community Center in Logan Heights.

They’ll be open from 10 a-m to 7 p-m every day.

They’ll offer information from the U-S Small Business Administration, state agencies and the county.

The centers are an extra resource for disaster victims, but they don’t need to visit a center for help.

San Diegans can register for federal assistance and disaster loans on disaster-assistance-dot-gov.

Flood victims can apply for federal assistance through April 19th.

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Today will be cool and there’s a slight chance of rain… but over the weekend… it’s back to rainy weather.

High temperatures today will be up to 10 degrees below normal for this time of year.

The National Weather Service says the heaviest rains are expected tomorrow (Saturday).

And will lessen over the weekend and clear out as we start the new work week.

There’s also a Wind Advisory in effect from noon tomorrow (Saturday) until 4 a-m Sunday in the county’s desert areas… when gusts could reach up to 60 miles per hour.

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The California Franchise Tax Board is extending the deadline for county residents to file and pay their 20-23 state income taxes.

San Diegans now have until June 17th to do so.

This comes days after the federal tax payment deadline was extended.

Both were extended because of the impact of the January storms on the county.

Impacted taxpayers may also be eligible to claim a disaster loss on their tax return. 

You can visit I-R-S-dot-gov-slash-extensions for more information.

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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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Governor Newsom was in San Diego yesterday (Thursday), appearing alongside local leaders, to rally support for Proposition One.

Reporter Melissa Mae says some call it a solution to homelessness, and others call it a broken promise.

MM: California Governor Gavin Newsom says a yes vote on this measure would help people experiencing mental health crises get proper treatment AND would expand mental health and addiction services for tens of thousands of Californians. GN “It’s about you. Everyone, not just about those caregivers and professionals that will be supported with unprecedented workforce investments because of proposition one, but it’s about you.” MM: The American Civil Liberties Union opposes proposition one. Eve Garrow with ACLU of Southern California’s Dignity for All Project says proposition one will cause thousands of Californians to lose access to life saving mental healthcare as that funding would be put into a small number of housing opportunities for the unsheltered. Melissa Mae KPBS News.

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Also on the March 5th primary election ballot is the race to represent the 74th assembly district.

Reporter Thomas Fudge tells us that the race pits two candidates from the major parties against each other.

Assembly district 74 includes Vista and Oceanside along with San Clemente and Laguna Niguel in Orange County. It’s a swing district where Republicans and Democrats have nearly even numbers of registered voters. Republican Laurie Davies is the incumbent. She serves in a Legislature that has Democratic Supermajorities in both houses. But she says that doesn't prevent her from serving her district.  Asm. laurie davies (r) district 74, assembly d-74 candidate Laurie Davies “I tell people to leave your politics and your party at the door. Let’s talk policy. That’s what we’re up here to do. And, again, in the last three years I have 15 bills signed into law and a lot of Democrats co-authored. So you know what? You actually have to get people on board. That’s what Californians want. Democratic Challenger Chris Duncan is a member of the San Clemente city council. He lost to Davies in the 74th two years ago. He believes he would be more effective working with the majority in Sacramento. On California’s 58 billion dollar budget shortfall, he says he doesn’t have a fix for it. Chris duncan  san clemente councilmember, assembly d-74 candidate Chris Duncan “What I do think is that we have a lot of programs and a lot of things we’ve thrown money at, homeless being one of them that we haven’t seen any return on. We need to make sure that the program we’re investing in are one that’s really have a tangible return. Something that we can see the benefits of. If not, then that program needs to be going away.” SOQ.

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The March 5th primary election is five days away. And tomorrow (Saturday), 179 more vote centers will be opening across the county. Here to talk about some of the city of San Diego races and what to expect after the polls close, is KPBS reporter, Scott Rodd. Scott, welcome to the San Diego News Now podcast.

This is a primary election, what does that mean?

San Diegans are voting for their next Mayor this primary election. Why is this role important? 

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is the incumbent. Who are his top competitors?

Going into this election, what are some of the issues the city of San Diego is facing?

City of San Diego voters will see Measure A on their ballot. What should voters know about the measure?

The San Diego City Council District 4 seat is on the ballot. That seat was vacated by Monica Montgomery Steppe when she was elected to serve on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Can you tell us  how this special election is different from the other primary races and about the three candidates running for that seat? 

With just five days left until election day, what voting options are still left for voters?

So after March 5th what happens? When can people expect results?

TAG: I’ve been speaking with KPBS investigative reporter, Scott Rodd. Scott, thank you for all this information and for joining me on the San Diego News Now podcast. I hope you have a great weekend, and don’t forget to vote!

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Escondido has adopted a new, controversial policy on homelessness.

It rejects a “housing first” model.

Reporter Jacob Aere says instead, it takes a ‘public safety first’ approach.

The policy is a worry for those who work in homeless outreach, including Interfaith Community Services CEO Greg Anglea. “The reality is there are no available shelter beds. The treatment beds are full, there are not places for people to go.” Escondido Mayor Dane White and councilmember Joe Garcia drafted the new policy statement …Garcia says this policy tries to balance compassion and enforcement. “As part of the policy, we designed specific areas that we are going to work with. That's another thing we'd like to do – is to deal with the hotspots. What are the areas that have more homeless population, more encampments?” City council passed the new policy statement on homelessness late Wednesday night on a 4 to one vote. The 2023 point in time count found Escondido has the largest population of homeless residents in North County. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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You can spring into color at the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch starting today (Friday).

There are more than 70 million flowers in bloom at the fields.

Tickets are available on-line only.

Single ticket admission is 23-dollars for adults, 21-dollars for seniors and the military, and 14-dollars for children 3 to 10 years old.

Admission is free for children under 3.

The Flower Fields will be open through Mother’s Day on May 12th.

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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by Brooke Ruth. We’d like to thank KPBS editor, Nic McVicker for helping the podcast team this week. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again on Monday to start the week together with the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.