Hate crimes on the rise in San Diego County

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, September 27th.>>>>

Hate crimes are on the rise in the county.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######

San Diegans now have a week left to claim more than 867-thousand-dollars in unclaimed funds from the county.Each year, the county tries to return funds owed to taxpayers but is

often unable.

It can come from overpaid taxes and money owed to contractors who did business with the county.

According to the county Treasurer-Tax Collector, the refund amounts range from 15-dollars to a little over 25-thousand-dollars.

To view a list of unclaimed refunds, go to the Treasurer-Tax Collector's website, at sd-t-t-c-dot-com.

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County public transit operators are celebrating Clean Air day on Wednesday by offering free transit for Free Ride Day.

All M-T-S bus and trolley fares will be waived, as well as buses, the coaster, sprinter and BREEZE fixed-route services operated by the North County Transit District.

The agencies want to encourage San Diegans to reduce carbon emissions to improve the county’s air quality.

This year will be the fifth Free Ride Day held by the agencies.

M-T-S says each year, the transit agencies have seen an up to 30-percent increase in ridership.

For more information about Free Ride Day, visit sd-m-t-s-dot-com-slash-free-ride-day or Go-NC-TD-dot-com.

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The annual Miramar Air Show takes to the air this weekend.

It’s billed as the largest military air show in the country.

The Navy’s Blue Angels demonstration team will make their only San Diego appearance of the year.

Base Commanding Officer Colonel Erik Hermann says he’s most excited for people to see the marine air ground task force at work.

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“They are going to see some things that uh will hopefully knock their socks off, the aerial performers, both civilian and military.” 

The air station will be open to the public during the show from Friday to Sunday and admission is free.

For more information visit Miramar Air Show dot com.

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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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San Diego is one of the safest big cities in the U-S.

That’s according to crime data collected by the San Diego Police Department.

But a certain type of crime is on the rise here… hate crime.

Reporter John Carroll says local leaders are promoting new tools to fight these crimes.

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“Last year alone, the city of San Diego saw a 73% increase in hate crimes citywide, and over the last 3 years, Hillcrest has been the beat with the most hate crimes.” San Diego Police Captain Juan Sanchez presented that alarming statistic Thursday morning, surrounded by San Diego city councilmembers Raul Campillo and Stephen Whitburn along with leaders from the LGBTQ community.  At a news conference outside Rich’s Bar in Hillcrest, they had a message and a plea… calling for community members to get involved in the fight to stop hate crime.  Councilman Campillo…“One key tool is California vs Hate. It's a free, confidential service that's available in over 200 languages.  The service allows you to report hate incidents and connect with trained professionals who know what they're doing, who can give you legal help, mental health help, financial resources, and mediation services.” Hate crimes statewide actually fell between 2022 and 2023.  The leaders here hope that trend can take hold in San Diego, and soon.  JC, KPBS News.

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Some researchers believe a hallucinogen extracted from a central African shrub has potential to help with PT-SD, and traumatic brain injuries.

Health reporter Heidi De Marco says while the drug is illegal in the U-S, military veterans are traveling abroad to get it.

A warning, this story talks about suicide.

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Ryan Reeves spent 22 years in the Army. He retired as a  green beret four years ago. Now he talks with other veterans about their traumas on a podcast he hosts called Team Trek. But really how they're getting through the trauma is why are you still here and why haven't you put a gun in your mouth? Reeves says the conversations are therapeutic. In one episode fellow veteran Martin Acosta introduced him to the idea of using the hallucinogen Ibogaine to treat PTSD. MARTIN: A different point of view of attacking the problem that that we all know exists which is mental health and and suicide Acosta was able to access the drug at a clinic in Mexico where it’s unregulated. MARTIN: So this this psychedelic space um it's is definitely uh another tool set for for us to use and um and the journey there was was not easy but um there there's light at the end of the tunnel. Reeves says he’s tried various approaches to manage his anxiety, depression, and night terrors, including medication, alcohol, and marijuana. But most only provided temporary relief. So I am here on a mission, a personal mission, to try to do some self recovery. This month Reeves took a flight from Florida to San Diego. He met up with five others – some vets, some not – from different parts of the country. Nervous yet hopeful, they climb into vans headed  to a retreat center in Tijuana. If I can get that opportunity to deal with, with some of those past things, reset my emotions and really just get that second chance, I'm just hoping to get a little bit further and find a reason to stay around. A San Diego Non-profit is paying for most of his treatment. CAPONE Veterans who are willing to die for our country have to leave its borders for access to meaningful care. Amber Capone co-founded the San Diego non-profit VETS. They  help veterans access psychedelic-assisted therapies. By the end of this year, or early 2025, we will have provided our 1,000th veteran with a full subsidy to seek treatment. Capone wants Ibogaine removed from the federal government’s list of schedule 1 controlled substances. Stanford Medicine researchers studied 30 special ops veterans treated with Ibogaine at Ambio Life Sciences in Tijuana. One month after treatment, they found participants experienced an 85% reduction in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms on average.  It really is just a very interesting medication. It holds a great deal of promise. Sarah Simmons is director of psychological wellness at Kaiser. She says it also poses some risk. She says ibogaine can affect the heart's rhythm… so continuous cardiac supervision is important during treatment. I think it's very important that if somebody is considering something like this, that they speak with their primary care doctor, they speak with their psychiatrist first so that they can make an informed decision and be aware of any risks that are involved. The treatment is expensive. It ranges from four to eight thousand dollars for a 5 day-stay.  The clinic operates like a pop-up luxury retreat. It’s held in a beachfront home about 5 miles south of the U-S-Mexico border. Trevor Millar greets the group. He opened Ambio Life Sciences three years ago. He operated a similar clinic in Canada where ibogaine can be prescribed. MILLAR: I think we've treated close to, if not slightly over about 1500 people in that time. Mostly veterans, all completely safe. It’s been about three weeks since Reeves' treatment. He’s back home in Florida. RYAN: I started seeing images of heads passing by, faces, nobody recognizable. Everybody, for the most part, you know, looked pretty friendly. Reeves says Ibogaine gave him newfound clarity and patience. When he got home, he had to say goodbye to his English bulldog Bruno. RYAN: I would have been a wreck had I not just gone through what I did. Since returning home, he says he hasn’t had any thoughts of harming himself. RYAN: Like it hasn't even occurred to me He plans to share his experience with ibogaine on the podcast. If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide, you can call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News. 

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As the cost of living strains families’ budgets, schools are trying to help feed students at home.

Reporter Katie Anastas visited one of San Diego's newest school food pantries.

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VAN DYKE Who wants to grab the watermelon? Charlotte or Paisley? Reanna Van Dyke and her family moved to San Diego from Texas. She says the move came with some sticker shock. VAN DYKE A Little Caesar’s pizza here is $11.47. And in Texas, it was $6. Van Dyke supervises recess and lunch at Hancock Elementary School. Her husband is in the Navy. VAN DYKE This school community has been there for us through lots of different hardships. Now, the school has another way to support them: a food pantry. VAN DYKE What else did we get? Cheerios! Hancock Elementary is one of the latest schools in the county to get off Feeding San Diego’s waitlist for a school pantry. Abi Avila is the school’s community school site coordinator. AVILA A lot of our families found food security to be difficult, so they wanted more snacks in the classroom and they wanted food resources for them to use at home. Feeding San Diego staff say school pantries can reduce the stigma of seeking food assistance by bringing it to a familiar, trusted place. The organization says it costs about $30,000 to run a school pantry for a year. There are 44 school pantries across the county, and more than 30 schools are on the waitlist. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

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Trolley dances return to San Diego this weekend, and this year's program includes a company from Tijuana.

Video journalist Matthew Bowler [Bowl-er] talked with a dancer who sees her art as a way to break down borders.

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Pamela Macías from ConnectArte in Tijuana has been dancing for a long time.These days Macías has swapped her ballet slippers for some nikes i think there’s more freedom in contemporary. Part of that freedom is the freedom to cross borders. it really make us really excited to be working and having this challenge to bring our movement to the other side of the border. And on September 28th and 29th, Macias and the ConnectArte dancers will come to this side of the border to perform their choreography in Trolley Dances. Each fall for a quarter century San Diego Dance Theater partners with  San Diego Metropolitan Transit system to take art to the people through dance. This year it starts at the Old Town station on the Green Line with stops at Gaslamp Quarter, Convention Center and Seaport Village.Audiences ride the trolley, and at each stop, experience a "site-specific" dance performance. I don't think there's any choreography that it's the same. At rehearsal they are getting the music and the moves just right. Created in Tijuana, performed in San Diego. Matthew Bowler KPBS News.

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Now that we’ve officially entered the fall season, there are many fall-related events happening across the county.

As part of a new series for the podcast, we’ll highlight different Oktoberfests and fall festivals.

The first is the 28th annual Encinitas Oktoberfest and Artisan Faire, on Sunday.

It’s a free, family-friendly event with traditional German food, craft beers, German dancers, the traditional German stein holding game, live music, games, a kid zone, exhibitors, and more.

Carol Knight, is the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce and Visit Encinitas spokesperson.

She said something new this year is a dog costume contest.

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“We noticed over the last couple of years that a lot of folks were bringing their pets, particularly dogs in costume, so we said well why not let’s have a costume contest this year and that will be at 2 o’clock on our main stage.”

Knight says there are different options for parking and transportation.

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“The Encinitas Chamber of Commerce, we’re always trying to be sustainable. So we have worked with the city of Encinitas this year to provide a free bike valet. And that is on the west side of the event. Which means it’s at Mountain Vista and Wandering Road. We also have a place to park your bikes at the east end of the event at Rambling. And for those who are driving or have to drive because we do draw a lot of people from all over San Diego County and Orange County, there’s a free shuttle at Flora Vista Elementary and our friends at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market are sponsoring that this year, so they’ll be shuttling to and from from about 10:45 to 7:15.”

The fest starts at 11 A-M, and goes until 7 at night.

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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 editor Joe Guerin and producer David Jones for helping the podcast team this week. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again Monday to start the new week together with the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.