Help for Afghans

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, August 23rd.

Local advocates say the U-S isn’t doing enough to help Afghans. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill yesterday that would have allowed supervised injection sites in L -A, San Francisco and Oakland.

Senate Bill-57 was written by state Senator Scott Weiner, as a way to curb overdose deaths and connect people to treatment.

Newsom said the pilot program could work against its purpose if done without a strong plan.

He said he is open to discuss the program more, after more planning is done by city and county officials.

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San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced yesterday that he has chosen his preferred plan to redevelop the Sports Arena property in the Midway District.

Gloria’s preference for ‘Midway Rising’ was not a surprise.

It was his preferred redevelopment plan back in the spring when his staff last updated the City Council on the project.

The development team envisions a new arena, retail and office space, a 200-room hotel, 20 acres of open space and more than four-thousand apartments.

Two-thousand of those would be affordable for low-income households.

The mayor plans on presenting his recommendation to the council on September 13th.

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Four municipal pools in the city of San Diego are closed because of a nationwide carbon dioxide shortage.

Carbon dioxide is used to maintain p-H levels at the city’s pools.

The affected pools are the Carmel Valley, Colina Del Sol, Kearny Mesa and Martin Luther King Jr. pools.

City officials are now looking for alternative options in place of C-O-2.

So it’s unclear how long the pools will be closed.

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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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A year after America ended its longest war, thousands of Afghans are settling into new lives inside the U-S…

Though, advocates say the U-S is not doing enough… especially to help women who remained behind and are now under threat from the Taliban.

KPBS Military reporter Steve Walsh has the story.

Masooma Esmaelzada and her five sisters evacuated from Afghanistan on August 30 last year. They were allowed only one backpack, each. She takes me through their San Diego area home. She’s embarrassed that their house is furnished mainly by donations.“Right now, when I see the new comers. The new afghan comers. I do my best to help them. Because I can feel what they are feeling right now.” Their father died a month before. With no male relative living with them, they were virtually trapped in their home as the Taliban took over Afghanistan. “It is something like a nightmare. Maybe for the people who are living in the US, it looks like a movie but for us every minute was like a horror film. We didn't know what will happen next.” Her family arrived in San Diego in January. Before they fled, she taught English literature at a local university. Occasionally, in the middle of the night NOW, Esmaelzada holds virtual classes with her former students because English has been removed from the curriculum and women are often barred from class. “They had goals. They had dreams. But right now, they say, we do not know about our tomorrow. What should be do? They are really broken.”  She now works with LaMaenstra Community Health Centers, helping other recent arrivals. The transition to the U.S. is especially tough for Afghan women. Her father stressed education. One sister is a neurosurgeon. Another is an architect. Though, many of the women Esmaelzada works with cannot read or write. “Some of the organizations, when they help, they say that okay, you have to start working. But how? When they do not have any knowledge, when they do not know the language, when they do not even have that self confidence to work” In the hectic last days of the American presence in Afghanistan, the US prioritized getting people out who worked with the US or US contractors over the years. And Devon Cone - with Refugees International - says the focus on those who might qualify for Special Immigration Visas or SIV’s. Cone met with a group of female Afghan refugees evacuated to Albania, who were waiting to be resettled. They were doctors, lawyers and advocates for women’s rights - most did not expect to come to America. “Because of the work that these women did they were at risk by the Taliban, yet they didn't work for the US Government … so there really was no way and there's still very few ways for them to get to the US.” Shawn VanDiver’s group, Afghan Evac, formed to coordinate a range of vet groups working to get people out of Afghanistan. One year out, he worries public attention is fading. “What’s really important is the world doesn’t stop talking about this. As soon as the world stops talking about it, that’s when we will see the uptick. And what we saw when Ukraine kicked off was that there was an uptick in raids on houses, in beatings.” The group supports the recently introduced Afghanistan Adjustment act, which would help Afghans caught in immigration limbo. Masooma Esaelzada’s sister Gulsom Ismailzada (Mis-mal-za-day) worked with USAID (US A-I-D -- and not directly with Americans. But it was enough to get her family on the radar for their last minute evacuation. Glad to be safe. She’s also sad she’s now part of a brain drain forced by the Taliban. “It made me sad. And it just telling me that my education was useless, when I cannot use it for my own people, for my country.…So that's the thing that made me disappointed and hopeless.” Without some other permanent solution, the sisters now have two years to make it through the backlogged immigration process. Steve Walsh KPBS News.

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OFFICIALS BROKE GROUND YESTERDAY ON A PROJECT TO CREATE A SECOND BORDER PORT OF ENTRY IN OTAY MESA.

KPBS REPORTER KITTY ALVARADO WAS THERE AND HAS DETAILS …

Leaders and dignitaries from both sides of the U.S., Mexico border held a symbolic groundbreaking for a project over two decades in the making … the Otay East Port of Entry’s four lane road will connect to a customs ,border patrol and chp commercial facility. California’s Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis spoke about how desperately needed another border crossing  is to help ease the burden on the busiest crossing in the Western Hemisphere. Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor, California it is estimated that the increasing wait times cost the United States and Mexico a combined $3.4 billion dollars in annual economic output and more than 88 thousand jobs. Otay two is expected to open in 2024 Kitty Alvarado KPBS News

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The Chula Vista Bayfront is at last getting its long promised redevelopment, with work beginning on the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center.

But KPBS reporter Jacob Aere says that for the time being, area residents will have to contend with several road closures.

Even though the project is expected to pump hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the local economy, KPBS spoke to residents and workers who are worried about the road closures and overcrowding. But Jim O’Callaghan, CEO South County Economic Development Council, says short-term pain will translate to long-term gain. Much of the area will ultimately have new paths … for cars and pedestrians alike. “You're going to have hundreds of acres of walkable space, it'll connect to the bikeway, giving ample opportunity for people to take advantage of fields they haven't been able to use in years. Some of this was old sites that were for refineries, power plants, so now being able to take this back as public land is pretty incredible.” The project is expected to be completed in 2025. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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Coming up.... S-D-S-U starts the fall semester with its largest freshman class. We’ll have that story and more, next, just after the break.

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As S-D-S-U welcomes its largest freshman class this week … neighbors are asking the school to reign in the out-of-control parties.

KPBS reporter Alexander Nguyen has more.

It’s the first day of the semester. All around campus … there is the usual hubbub of college life.  … clubs to sign up for  … textbooks to buy. There are also parties and trouble. This past Friday … San Diego Police arrested two minors who brandished a gun and a hatchet following a fight at an off-campus party. Jim Jennings has lived in the college area for more than 22 years. And he faults the university. “One of the things I think, where I'm most upset about with State is, they talk a good game, they say. Well, we're going to get involved … [cut] … But then they say you know well if they're over 21, and they're drinking in a house. There's nothing we can do about it.” San Diego State says has launched an app called SDSU Safe … where students can report things such as out-of-control parties.  San Diego Police will increase patrol around the school until at least Labor Day to cut down on the parties … and the crowds. AN/KPBS

KPBS is a service of SDSU.

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This year’s selections for One Book, One San Diego are out… and for adult readers, the choice is the novel ‘The Vanishing Half,’ by author and Oceanside native Britt Bennett

One Book, One San Diego’s goal is to bring the community closer together through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same book.

‘The Vanishing Half’ is about a family across generations.

The book examines issues of race, and how we are shaped by the past.

Britt Bennett spoke with KPBS Midday Edition in July of 20-20.

At that time, host Alison St. John began the conversation asking about how the timing of the book's publication tied into the events of summer 20-20… in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing...

So talk a bit about the underlying premise of the book. The enormous effect the color of your skin has on the choices that you can make, and talk about some of the key choices that these twin sisters make that result in them becoming such different people.

So both of these twins have very light skin, and that’s what gives the book such an interesting premise… that they can make choices here. And Stella builds this completely new life for herself. Now the idea of creating your own identity is linked to the idea of being you know a free person, which is at the root of what being an American means, but is something lost do you think in choosing to deny your heritage like Stella chose to do?

So how do you think that choice will resonate with today’s readers? I should make the point that your story takes place in the 1960s and ‘70s, right?

Do you think things have changed since the ‘60s that perhaps the rewards of standing in your Black heritage are greater now?

That was Brit Bennett, author of ‘The Vanishing Half,’ speaking with Alison St. John in 20-20.

You can find Britt Bennett’s book, as well as all of this year’s selections for One Book One San Diego, at kpbs dot org.

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