Gov. Newsom issues executive order to clear homeless encampments

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, July 26th.

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Governor Newsom issues an executive order to clear all homeless encampments in the state. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Virtual public comment at San Diego City Council meetings will still be allowed… for now that is.

Earlier this week, the council’s Rules Committee was set to consider no longer allowing public comments through the phone or internet streaming during council meetings.

Various groups protested the item at that meeting, and the committee pulled it.

The item was proposed by Council President Sean Elo-Rivera as an effort to make meetings run more efficiently and with more civil discourse.

The council has allowed virtual comments since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when restrictions didn’t allow members of the public to attend meetings.

The item will be brought back to the Rules Committee this fall.

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County health officials are reminding parents and guardians to put vaccinations on their back-to-school list.

The state requires some vaccines for children to attend T-K through 12th grade.

Those vaccines include D-TaP, Hepatitis B, M-M-R, chickenpox and polio.

Although the H-P-V vaccine is not required for school, health officials say it’s an important vaccine for boys and girls 9 to 13, that helps prevent some cancers in adulthood.

More information about school vaccines and where to get them is available on the county’s website, or by calling 2-1-1.

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An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for the desert areas until 8 P-M tonight (Friday).

In the desert temperatures could reach 117 degrees.

But, it’s a bit cooler in the inland and mountain areas, where temps will be in the low 80s.

By the coast, it’ll be in the low 70s.

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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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There’s an estimated one-hundred and eighty thousand people in California experiencing homelessness on any given night.

That’s according to an executive order Governor Gavin Newsom issued yesterday (Thursday) directing state agencies to clear all homeless encampments statewide.

Health reporter Heidi De Marco says the order follows a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to ban sleeping in public spaces.

Tents and makeshift shelters line city streets, parks and freeway underpasses in San Diego County. D: GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM It's time to move with urgency at the local level to clean up these sites, to focus on public health and focus on public safety. Newsom says there’s 3.3 billion dollars in state grant money for cities to support the work. Joanne Standlee is executive director of  Housing 4 the Homeless. She says this isn’t a solution, it’s creating another problem. “We're already at the point where we have people living in very dangerous places…They're hiding out. They're trying to be safe somewhere. You're gonna have a lot more deaths.” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement welcoming Newsom’s sense of urgency. For now, it's unclear how the order will be enforced or if there will be penalties for cities and counties that don't clear homeless camps. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News. 

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Two Lincoln High sumo wrestlers qualified for the junior world championship in Poland.

Reporter Katie Hyson says they just need money to go.

In Lincoln High’s wrestling gym, coach Christina Griffin-Jones leads warm-up. ichi! stomp – ni! stomp . . . . She grew up nearby. She started the sumo club this year. To bring a gift like this to our community is everything because I know for sure I would have been a champ if something like this was happening at my high school. She says competitive sports are not just about skill, but access to resources. She’s the first African-American woman to medal in international sumo. And I'm really happy that I won't be the last. She thinks these young wrestlers are paving the way for more diversity in sumo. They could attend the U-S championship because Lincoln High hosted it. Freshman Maily Lo won her lightweight division. I thought it was a joke at first because they were like, ‘Oh, you're going to go to Poland.’ And I was like, ‘What?’  Her older brother has been training her in wrestling. My brother not being able to go far in sports because of money and financial issues when he was in high school – it's like, it’s like an honor to have the opportunity for me to go. There’s just one problem – the team needs to raise ten thousand dollars to go. The deadline’s in August. Katie Hyson, KPBS News.

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San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing downtown.

This year, Hollywood is making a grand return.

It's a shift from the scaled-down version we saw last year because of the actors' and writers’ strikes.

Reporter Alexander Nguyen spoke with fans about this year's convention.

“welcome to Hall H” Cheers … Hollywood is back in a big way … more cheer as stars come out These fans got a sneak peek at the new Transformers movie releasing in September. It stars Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry. Maggie Marin came from Merida Mexico to see Hemsworth in person. It’s her first time in Hall H “he's playing the voice of Optimus Prime in the movie.” She was here last year but felt there was something missing. “Definitely, star power is one of those things.” excitement from Hall H On the main convention floor … Marcel Rowe from Vancouver misses last year’s vibe. “It was a little bit special. You know, it kind of went back to its roots.” He says the crowds and the energy is back to its pre-pandemic level. AN/KPBS.

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Over the years, the comic book industry has evolved into a multi billion dollar industry.

Video journalist Matthew Bowler tells us one way the industry is changing.

reading comic in english. Simple joy of reading a comic book is a window to so much more. The global industry is valued at more than 14 Billion dollars, with a B. And expected to grow. nats reading in english Just like the stories, its readers have evolved over the years. nats reading in english dissolve to reading in Spanish. Census data show that more than 20% of the people in San Diego speak Spanish, Chula Vista that number is closer to 50%. Yet it is very difficult, if not impossible to find comic books in Spanish on this side of the border. 08;22;33;14 - 08;22;51;02. When we first opened about five years ago, we would get a lot of requests, for folks, for comics and Spanish. And it was almost impossible for us to order anything. That’s Aaron Trites (try-ts) owner of Now or Never Comics in Downtown. Historically comics have been dominated by straight white men. and that is changing in terms of the creators, that’s changing in terms of the characters, that’s changing in terms of the audience.Trites says that many Spanish readers are told that the Spanish language versions of their favorite stories don’t exist. But if you can cross the border you can find them. Those books do exist, and we're seeing a lot of those come up from south of the border. Border nats Naomi Cortez is the manager of Utopia Comics in Tijuana. She says they can get readers the comics they want like Averners, Batman, Superman and Spiderman. Naomi Cortez | Utopia Comics Tijuana Son varios, pero los últimos tiempos viene siendo La Saga de Infinito de Avengers, Killing Joke el Batman que Ríe, unos cuentos de Superman, Spiderman. There are several, but recent times have been The Avengers Infinity Saga, Killing Joke the Batman Who Laughs, some stories about Superman, Spiderman. Back in San Diego, Trites says he thinks he knows why it’s difficult to access Spanish titles in the United States. I would imagine it's largely a business decision. Those books are available and those books are available within spitting distance of us. It would be amazing if we at least had the option to order it. When ever Trites can he orders Spanish language comics the few copies that we ordered, you know, flew out of the shop immediately. And then we went back to reorder them and found that they weren't available in the system any longer. Diamond Comics Distributors is a one stop shop for store owners to order comic books. While they weren't available for an interview they said in an email (gfx) “We are currently working with Panini to offer Marvel Collections in Spanish, the first batch will be in August.” - Diamond Comics Distributors That’s a sign of where the industry is going according to Trites I'm comforted. feeling that comics are moving in the right direction. Spanish comic nats that there's an awareness at all of these different audiences. they could absolutely be doing more to support those audiences. but it's wildly different, significantly better than it was even ten, 20 years ago. Spanish comic nats “We're we're moving in the right direction.” Spanish comic nats. Matthew Bowler KPBS News

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Border X Brewing is hosting Chicano Con this weekend.

Tomorrow (Saturday), there will be a panel discussion with Latin-x artists who will share how they are breaking barriers in today’s creative industries.

South Bay engagement producer Marielena Castellanos spoke with a few of the panelists.

MC: Lalo Alcaraz is the creator of the nationally syndicated daily comic strip, La Cucaracha. Alcaraz says a lot of his work speaks out against racism and injustice. LA: “It's on us to defend people that can't defend themselves. MC: Jorge Gutiérrez is the director of the animated blockbuster hit, The Book of Life. He says audiences can help build support for Latinx content. JG:. “Take a chance on a movie you're not sure about Latinos. Latino culture, Latino directors, and Latino actors. Take a chance. Don't wait,” MC: Alcaraz and Gutiérrez plan to share more during a panel Saturday evening at Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan. For KPBS News, I’m Marielena Castellanos.

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Chula Vista’s Art Fest is coming back for a second year.

Reporter Kori Suzuki says it’s a sign of the region’s strengthening arts scene.

The South Bay has always had a strong arts community. But one thing that’s been missing is more places for artists to gather and share their work. Over the last few years though, that’s started to change. Last year, Chula Vista held its first Art Fest. Which brought together local painters, potters, printmakers and other artists to exhibit and sell their work on the courtyard outside city hall. Along with food trucks, musicians, dancers and a movie screening. This year, the city is running it back. Danny Zavala is with the city’s Cultural Arts Commission. A lot of talented artists have applied, and I'm just really excited to show their work. I haven't even seen it yet. So it's. It's like opening presents at Christmas. You don't know what to expect, but you're filled with joy and excitement. Zavala says the city is still accepting applications from artists to take part. The festival is scheduled for next month. In Chula Vista, Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

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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 also like to thank producer Bennett Lacy 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.