Increased immigration enforcement impacts North County businesses

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz. It’s Thursday, January 30th.

North County businesses are seeing the impact of increased immigration enforcement.

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

Hundreds of volunteers will take to the county's streets today (Thursday), for an early morning census of the homeless.

According to last year’s point-in-time count, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the county increased by an estimated 3%.

The count is federally required, and HUD uses the data to determine how to distribute federal funding.

A new county behavioral crisis stabilization unit is slated to open in Chula Vista this summer.

The unit will operate out of the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.

The county board of supervisors voted in favor of the contract this week.

The new unit will provide care to people experiencing behavioral health episodes and will be located in the hospital’s emergency department.

It will offer resources for people with substance use disorders and mental illness.

In a related action, the board also voted in favor of adding up to 30 Medi-Cal-psychiatric beds at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City.

County supervisors also voted yesterday in favor of convening a special meeting in the spring on the Tijuana River border pollution crisis.

County supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer introduced the plan to coordinate with local, state and federal agencies.

“I want us to take some responsibility as our leading public health agency in the region to bringing these stakeholders together to say, hey, let's get to it, what's not getting done and how do we get the right people moving in the direction while also acknowledging that there has been work that's been done.”

Some of those stakeholders include the CDC, the EPA and representatives in Sacramento.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

Businesses in the North County say they’re starting to see the impact of increased immigration enforcement with a drop in customers, and fearful communities.

North County reporter Tania Thorne has the story.

Recent images and videos of immigration agents knocking on doors and detaining people have instilled fear in many immigrant communities… and local businesses are feeling the impact. This person didn’t want to be identified out of fear. She is one of the many vendors at a marketplace in Escondido. “Our store makes between 1000 to $2000 for the three days that we're there. Lately we've been selling 200, 300 a day. It's been very, very slow.” She said community attendance was down out of fear of immigration raids. As a result, local vendors are losing the source of income they rely on. As federal operations continue, protests are planned in Escondido and San Diego this weekend. Tania Thorne, KPBS News.

The San Diego city council voted Tuesday to repeal a controversial footnote in city code.

Reporter Katie Hyson says it’s a victory that doesn’t go far enough for neighbors in southeastern San Diego.

The 2019 footnote allowed much denser housing – only in the Chollas Valley Planning Area. Where neighborhoods were formerly redlined and remain majority Black and Latino and low-income. City staff say the repeal will result in 465 fewer potential homes. Henry Foster III is the area’s councilmember. He supports denser housing, but agreed with concerns about how quietly the footnote was passed. “The lack of transparency and engagement in policy-making affecting neighborhoods, especially those historically discriminated against like District 4, is unacceptable.” Neighbors discovered the footnote after investigating why large developments were coming to lots that didn’t seem to be zoned for them. They want all projects relying on the footnote to be stopped. But city staff say state law requires existing projects to move forward. Including one in Emerald Hills. Developers plan to build more than 120 homes on a lot that would only allow 70 anywhere else in the city. City staff expect the repeal to take effect in April. The footnote would apply to any project applications completed before then. Katie Hyson, KPBS News

Over the last decade, the city of San Diego’s housing agency has relied on section 8 vouchers tied to specific projects to deliver more housing for homeless residents. In our latest why it matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt says that’s changing.

These so-called project-based vouchers ensure developers can welcome people who can’t pay much rent and still cover their own bills for the property. This approach has helped dramatically increase the city’s stock of homeless housing over the last decade. But the Housing Commission recently made a tough call: It decided it can’t issue new project-based vouchers for the next several years. Here’s Housing Commission CEO Lisa Jones explaining her agency’s decision. “It is a step we need to take as we continue to assist thousands of families with low income who currently rely on our existing housing vouchers.” The commission hasn’t pulled from its Section 8 housing waiting list for families since August 2022. And now it is turning off a crucial engine backing projects for the lowest income San Diegans. So what does this mean? San Diegans who already have Section 8 vouchers will keep getting rental assistance. But housing developers and advocates fear the Housing Commission’s decision to stop offering project-based vouchers will affect the production of housing for especially low-income San Diegans for years to come. The city will eventually see a slowdown in new low-income housing, especially for people now living on the street who need homes with supportive services. I’m Lisa Halverstadt for Voice of San Diego and that’s why it matters. 

The San Diego Unified School District is outperforming many other large districts in nationwide test scores released yesterday [Wednesday.] Reporter Katie Anastas says the performance gap between economically disadvantaged students and their peers continues to grow.

Four in ten San Diego Unified fourth graders performed at or above the proficient level in math. That’s up from three in ten in 2022. Economically disadvantaged students continue to have lower scores. Winnie Gonzales is a fourth grade teacher at Horton Elementary School, where many students are homeless or in foster care. She says the pandemic had lasting effects. “Even though, you know, they had instruction to be on their laptop a certain time and all of that, a lot of them had to be caregivers for their other family members. And so they, you know, they learned to not be as attentive.” San Diego saw greater improvement in fourth grade math scores than California as a whole. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

Many decide to take a break from alcohol at the start of the new year.

With “Dry January” wrapping up, Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon spoke with doctor Jennifer Au (ow) from the Scripps Cancer Center, to learn more about alcohol and its health impacts.

Does it matter what type of alcohol you're drinking? Or is it all equal? It is. In the end, it's all equal. Alcohol is alcohol. Beer is really the alcohol and is no better than the alcohol. And wine is really no better than the alcohol in the spirits. It's, you know, it's just the amount of alcohol that you're taking in. So some people will say, well, I'm drinking a light beer. Isn't light better for me? Well, it's light in that it has less calories than your average beer. But there still is that percentage of alcohol in there, which is, in the end, causing damage. And, you know, I mean, alcohol, it's touted as a way to unwind, to relieve stress. What is it about that alcohol that can make us feel that way? It's a I mean, it helps, but as you mentioned, it's a depressant. I mean, it helps relax. And part of it, I think, again, it's the way it's marketed. It's the culture of it. It's not always the way you feel, because a lot of people will tell me they had their glass of wine to unwind, but then the next day they have these horrible headaches and they don't feel good. So was there really a benefit of that, or was it that, you know, you're you are feeling into, you feel like you have to have that wine to help you unwind and therefore that's why you're utilizing it. But it's not really truly providing that benefit that you want it to be. Tell me more about alternatives. Like what do you suggest to patients who may not be able to drink to maybe get a similar feeling of unwinding? So in people who, you know, say have significant liver disease, who we say you really cannot have any alcohol. I really tell them to avoid anything that is similar in flavor to alcohol. Again, like those nonalcoholic beers, they still have a small proportion of alcohol. But also it's that flavor. They're not really trying to, get over or trying to overcome. And they need to really work to overcome that alcohol addiction. So in those situations, I say, you know, if we can, we try to find another outlet for our stress and so this is where a lot of times support groups can come into play. You know, there are groups like Alcoholics Anonymous that have been around forever or, you know, there is other there are other ones. There's, you know, smart therapy and there's other different types of groups that are available to help people. And I think that oftentimes they can try to help you retrain your brain or find other outlets to relieve your stress. Other than alcohol. So I do think that trying to engage in, exercise often can be helpful, you know, releasing those endorphins that can help you relax. Obviously, that requires a time commitment. And a lot of times with our busy lives, people feel that they don't have the ability to get out there or go to the gym or go for a run. The weather's too cold, but I think that is a wonderful way to try to relieve stress that doesn't involve potentially putting harmful chemicals into your body. Do you have any advice for someone who maybe has been a long time drinker, who may be looking to stop or reduce their drinking? Yeah. I think that if it's something that you are seriously considering, and a lot of times people are fearful of that because they've been drinking very heavily. It is always a good idea to potentially start by talking to your physician and seeing if, while cutting back and stopping, if potentially you need a little more support, whether it be with additional medications or closer monitoring to help you stop drinking. But looking into different support groups can be very, very helpful. Looking at your community center, looking online. There are a lot of options there. And sometimes, you know, talking to your really close friends and loved ones and you'd be surprised at how many people these days are actually making a move to cut back or to stop drinking. And people are oftentimes afraid to talk about it because they are afraid that their loved ones are going to chastise them or are going to ostracize them. But in fact, it is oftentimes the opposite now.

That was doctor Jennifer Au (ow) with Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon.

On yesterday's podcast we brought you a story about ADU's in Encanto. In it we misnamed the researcher Erik Wegmann. His name is Jake Wegmann. We regret the error.

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org.

For your next listen, check out Midday Edition’s arts and culture episode, that includes an interview with San Diego’s new poet laureate.

I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.