Gun range customers accuse employee of data leak

Good Morning, I’m Matt Hoffman, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, June 12th.

Customers at a local gun range are accusing an employee of leaking their personal data.

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

######

The County Board of Supervisors is holding its first public hearing today, for the more than 8-billion-dollar proposed budget for the new fiscal year.

The budget plan includes increased spending to address homelessness, mental health and substance use disorder challenges.

The next one is Thursday, at 5-30.

The board will consider approving the budget on June 27th.

########

The San Diego City Council will vote tomorrow on a proposed ordinance that would ban homeless encampments in certain areas.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria says the ordinance is another tool to get unsheltered individuals to say yes to help getting off the street.

John Brady is with Lived Experience Advisers, a group that assists the unhoused.

He also sits on several homeless advocacy boards and says no one in that space thinks this ordinance is a solution.

“Writing an ordinance that criminalizes homelessness is A, unnecessary because we already have an ordinance that does that and B, does nothing to solve the fundamental problem that we don’t have beds and we don’t have housing for people that have recovered.”     

If approved, the ordinance would ban tent encampments in all public spaces throughout the city if shelter beds are available and in certain sensitive areas, such as in parks, canyons and near schools – regardless of shelter capacity.   

########

A new study finds more than one-in-three California households do not earn enough money to cover their basic living expenses.

Chula Vista and National City are among the areas in the state with the highest percentage of households that struggle the most.

Housing and child care costs were often the two largest expenses families have to cover.

#########

A group of friends who went to a San Diego firing range say an employee leaked their personal information to right-wing extremists.

“This is alarming because our worst fear has come true.” 

More on that story, coming up.

##########

Customers at a San Diego gun range are accusing an employee of leaking their personal data to right-wing extremists.

inewsource investigative reporter Jill Castellano tells us what happened.

CASTELLANO: When a group of about a dozen friends was looking to celebrate a birthday at a San Diego firing range, they chose Discount Gun Mart near Mission Valley. They heard it would welcome people from marginalized groups, and that detail was important, since most of the friends are queer, transgender, Black or indigenous. CASTELLANO: But months later, they say the whole experience has left them in fear for their safety. That’s because somehow, right-wing extremists found out they went to the gun range and started threatening them. LODER: This is alarming because our worst fear has come true. CASTELLANO: That’s Chad Loder, one of the friends who went to the range in late December. Loder is a cybersecurity expert known for exposing people who stormed the capitol in January 2021. Loder is also non-binary and uses “they/them” pronouns. CASTELLANO: Loder said the trouble started when an employee at Discount Gun Mart recognized them from their left-wing activism. LODER: One of the employees made a really pointed comment to me as she held my driver’s license and said something like, you’re a long way from home. And I was like, what? And they were looking at me in sort of a strange way, said, oh you came all the way down from LA for this, huh? CASTELLANO: The friends thought the encounter was very unusual and concerning. And two hours later, social media posts from right-wing extremists appeared online saying the friends were spotted in Mission Valley. One Twitter user, who posts about his own violent confrontations with protestors, said he wanted to - quote - head downtown to say hi. LODER: My immediate feeling was fear, disappointment, fear for my friends. They are not really involved in activism, so my concern was that they might somehow get doxxed or harassed as a result of just being in proximity to me, which is not a good feeling. CASTELLANO: Things got worse a few weeks later, in late January, when a video appeared online from a rally outside a Santee YMCA. Protesters can be heard shouting about a transgender person using the women’s restroom. And then, a woman in the video starts yelling about Discount Gun Mart. VIDEO: “I got your number because you were at Discount Gun Mart too. I got your name and f—ing number too, b—” CASTELLANO: The woman says she got the names and numbers of the friends who went to Discount Gun Mart with Loder. She also says the group showed up half an hour late to their range appointment, a detail only the range employees or the friends would have known. CASTELLANO: The footage was shot by a videographer who documents right-wing extremism. Another video she took at a second YMCA rally a few days later shows the same woman talking about Chad Loder again. VIDEO: Can I get a sticker? Tell Chad it was me. Oh you did it? Tell Chad it was me. CASTELLANO: The woman in the videos is Rebecca Wyrick of Alpine. inewsource used first-hand accounts, video footage and other sources to identify her. Wyrick is an associate and supporter of the American Guard, an extreme right-wing group, according to the Anti-Defamation League. CASTELLANO: After seeing the footage, Loder’s attorney, Ken White, contacted Discount Gun Mart several times to figure out what happened. He got no reply. Here’s White. WHITE: Although it certainly may not be their fault that a rogue employee or someone does something like this, you would think that they would want to make it right and reassure customers when some pretty scary people have wound up with their information apparently from this business. CASTELLANO: Two weeks ago, Discount Gun Mart’s owner, Daniel Gray, declined to comment for this story. The next day, the insurance company for Discount Gun Mart contacted Loder’s attorney and said the employee responsible for this incident had been fired. CASTELLANO: But the Gun Mart has not told the friends if their personal data is secure. They gave the store their phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and more. LODER: If you’re into guns and safe gun handling, and you know, firearms as a hobby and shooting, then you know, it should be a safe place for you. CASTELLANO: The friends are still hoping for answers. CASTELLANO: For KPBS, I’m inewsource investigative reporter Jill Castellano.

TAG: inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS.

##########

The nation’s energy secretary says the process is underway to move spent nuclear fuel rods from the San Onofre nuclear station, but it will take time.

Environment reporter Erik Anderson has details.

The Department of Energy has picked 13 partners and doled out 26 million dollars to explore the possibility of finding a community willing to host an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel.  There are 123 canisters of depleted fuel rods stored at San Onofre.  Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the grants start the process of moving them. Jennifer Granholm U.S. Energy Secretary “It is going to be in the span of years, rather than months.  But the bottom line is that the process has begun and some of it will depend on how forward leaning the communities are and how willing, they’re ready to go..” Meanwhile, Representative Mike Levin says congress also needs to find a permanent repository for high level nuclear waste.  He says the current process is to find a temporary storage site. Erik Anderson KPBS News.

##########

Former representative Duncan L. Hunter is pushing back on a N-P-R investigation into a 2004 friendly fire incident involving his son, then-lieutenant Duncan D. Hunter.

Military reporter Andrew Dyer was at Hunter's news conference Friday, and has more.

(REPORTER) Former representative Duncan L. Hunter  presented the results of a polygraph test taken Wednesday. he says the results prove he is not lying when he says he didn’t influence or discuss the investigation into the friendly fire incident, or his son Duncan D. Hunter’s involvement with Marine leadership. (REPORTER) The elder Hunter said he wasn’t even aware of the incident until  NPR asked him about it. Duncan L. Hunter, former U.S. Congressman “That was 20 years ago. I don’t remember being briefed on that.” Duncan L. Hunter, former U.S. Congressman “That didn’t come up until NPR did their story.” (reporter) the npr podcast “taking cover” revealed that  while serving in iraq, duncan d. hunter was part of a mortar team that fired on allied forces, killing two marines and an iraqi interpreter. (reporter) Families were not immediately told the details of the incident and Duncan D. Hunter’s involvement remained a secret for almost 20 years. Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.

##########

Coming up.... A local art history professor says public art in the county is thriving. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.

##########

As the countdown to summer continues… the County Library has a challenge for students and their parents to avoid a learning slide.

Education reporter M.G. Perez explains.

The San Diego County Library system is challenging kids of all ages to read 10 books and complete 10 educational activities or more …for the chance to earn prizes, during summer vacation. Parents are being challenged, too. They are encouraged to create a weekly routine of learning when they talk about their day…read a funny story …even sing a silly song with their children. Jessica Downing is a Lakeside mother with three children ages 2, 7, and 10… “we actually have books out around the house all day long. They pick them up. They read them to each other…and we do story night almost every night…it’s huge…we love it.” Details for the county library’s summer challenge can be found on line at S-D-C-L -DOT-ORG…backslash SUMMER. MGP KPBS News.

##########

In an age of polarization and alienation, there remains a space that binds, awes, inspires and educates… Public art.

Reporter Amita Sharma looked at a few local pieces and places, where artists have conspired to give beauty and provoke thought.

“....I think a mural like this absolutely stops people in their tracks.” Jim Daichendt is describing a multi-shaded blue painting that pops off the wall at the corner of 20th Street and Imperial Avenue in Barrio Logan. In calligraphy, it spells out “America’s Finest City” and depicts quintessential local images. “....There’s aspects of the Coronado Bridge. The train. You can see our friar from the Padres.” Because Daichendt is an art history professor – at Point Loma Nazarene University – he sees more. A maze of lines. Forms. Shapes that unfold San Diego’s story. ”You can think of the city of San Diego as the inspiration and the writing on the wall as a poem, a reflection, a creative interpretation of the things that are influencing the artist.” ”....I paint a lot of San Diego stuff just so people can enjoy. It’s my city. I love my city.” The artist Dyse One co-painted the mural with his friend Hasl in 2017. “I see it as a gift. And from what I've seen in the last six years, as long as it's been running, people love it.” Dyse One’s intent is for his work to be an offering. And that forms the soul of the many murals, some graffiti, sculptures, statues, installations and other pieces that mark indoor and outdoor spaces across San Diego County. Daichendt says public art’s purpose is layered. It can add beauty. “But it could also challenge us on a number of political, social or any conceptual issues altogether.” It can encourage people to engage with more depth. Vibrance. Good public art imparts fresh insights, invites repeated visits, he says. “Almost like a conversation with an old friend that's full of surprises. As you ask new questions, new things are revealed. Without it, life is drab.“What would the world be without the Statue of Liberty?” Christine Jones is chief of Civic Art Strategies at the city of San Diego. “What would San Diego be without Chicano Park murals? She says the work goes beyond aesthetics. “It has components you can't see, which is really more about its innate ability to really support social cohesion, a sense of belonging, a sense of neighborhood pride.” Jones says there’s many forms of public art—some that artists install in public places. And then there’s art commissioned by local governments. San Diego’s public art budget this year is $5.7 million. Its collection totals nearly 800 artworks. includes portable works, small sculptures, paintings, but also works that are commissioned as well, that are integrated into parks or libraries or other municipal buildings. Some of Jones’ favorite public art can be seen inside the downtown Central Library, including its elevator. “Somebody going into this elevator is launched into this discovery of, you know, the encyclopedic nature of what a library is.” Step outside the library, and public art abounds in the region. There’s the whimsical. Think Nike de Saint Phalle’s exaggerated sculpture of an alligator outside the Mingei Museum. The participatory – a mosaic of community faces named a Place to Call Home at Southcrest Trails Park. The startling such as the tiny house titled Fallen Star perched atop the engineering building at UCSD. The colorful and captivating…like the murals at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. And the iconic Chicano Park with its murals portraying Chicano history, culture, key civil rights activists and immigration. Jim Daichendt calls the area's public art robust. Finding it, he says, is similar to a scavenger hunt. “We often don't see what's in front of us and we need to get out of our cars and walk.” Back at the America’s Finest City mural,  street performer James Havic, heeds the credo. He says he passes the mural each day on his way to a nearby Walmart and is affected by what he sees. “It calls to me. It makes me feel part of. And I kind of like the homies. It’s a good representation of our community.” Amita Sharma, KPBS News.

##########

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Matt Hoffman. Thanks for listening and have a great Monday.