Jacumba migrant camps under investigation
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, December 22nd.
Homeland Security is investigating the Jacumba migrant camps for potential civil rights concerns.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The county appointed Paul Rodriguez as its new public defender.
Rodriguez will be responsible for ensuring those financially unable to hire a private lawyer still receive a rigorous defense.
Before this role, he served as the public defender branch supervisor for El Cajon.
He was born in Chile and said his family moved to pursue better economic opportunities.
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Rady Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Orange County announced this week that they plan to merge.
The combined umbrella organization would be named Rady Children’s Health.
They said they plan to leave the organizations under them – individual hospitals and charities – as they are.
Leadership said together they may be better able to recruit doctors who specialize in rare conditions . . . who might not have had enough patients at Rady or C-H-O-C alone.
Before they can merge, they need regulatory approval from the state attorney general.
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The San Diego Foundation announced earlier this week that it pledged half a million dollars to a scholarship fund to support Black students attending UC San Diego.
It was established as a challenge grant. Which means it will only award the funding when another half million is raised.
The U-C-S-D Black Alumni Scholarship fund hopes to raise 10 million dollars by 2028 to support 200 additional students each year.
That would double the size of their program.
Black students are currently underrepresented at U-C-S-D.
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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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The U-S Department of Homeland Security is investigating the migrant encampments in San Ysidro and Jacumba.
We’ve previously reported on unsafe conditions at the open-air camps.
Border reporter Gustavo Solis has this update.
The Homeland Security Department’s civil rights division confirmed the investigation this week. People in the camps don’t have shelter. They receive very little food and water from Customs and Border Protection. Officials have said they do not have enough capacity to process the tens of thousands of migrants trying to enter the U.S. Adrianna Jasso has spent months helping migrants at the open-air camps. Jasso says the investigation could not have come at a better time. “We have rain coming up this week.” Temperatures in Jacumba are already dropping to the 40s at night. Activists are frustrated that there isn’t a plan already in place to deal with the winter weather. “It has been three months. By now the most powerful, wealthiest country in the history of humanity is not able to provide fundamental basic needs to women and children. I find that hard to believe.” Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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San Diego mayor Todd Gloria is calling for substantial changes to the city’s ordinance that regulates the use of surveillance technology.
Reporter Scott Rodd says privacy rights advocates are pushing back.
Last August, the City Council established a process to review and approve each surveillance technology used by police and other city departments. The city had one year to complete that process. But so far only a handful of items — out of the hundreds identified by the city — have been fully approved. The deadline has since been pushed back by three years. And now Mayor Gloria…who declined to comment for this story…is calling for more sweeping amendments. “It’s an entirely rewritten ordinance.” Lilly Irani is a privacy rights advocate and associate professor of communication and computer science at UC San Diego. “So one of the most alarming changes in the mayor's proposal is to massively expand the list of technologies that are just completely exempt from any transparency, any oversight by Council at all.” The proposed exemptions include police databases and fixed security cameras. Gloria also wants to reduce the amount of time the city’s Privacy Advisory Board has to review technologies and give guidance to the City Council. “We shouldn't be rushing into multi-million dollar data contracts that could put residents in danger of having their data leaked everywhere.” The City Council is expected to vote on the amendments in late January. Scott Rodd, KPBS News
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The National Retail Federation says online shopping for this holiday season is expected to reach more than 275 billion dollars -- that's 9 percent higher than last year.
Reporter Melissa Mae tells us how to protect your packages, and what to do if you fall victim to porch theft .
Chamber of Commerce dot org revealed their 2023 package theft statistics after surveying 1,250 consumers nationwide. Collin Czarnecki is a researcher with Chamber of Commerce dot org. “We found that 26%, about one in four respondents, said they have been victims of a package theft and had had at least one package stolen.” Czarnecki says the average package value was about 82 dollars and 22% of victims had some sort of surveillance camera when the theft occurred. Both Amazon and FedEx encourage package theft victims to file a police report. Chamber of Commerce dot org recommends you also contact both the sender and the carrier of the package and file a missing package claim. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
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Coming up… the Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista's Brengle Terrace Park has been transformed into a winter wonderland. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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The holidays are a time for family, friends and fun.
Reporter Jacob Aere says there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate this time of year ... but one free event in Vista goes beyond your standard lights and hot cocoa affair.
This holiday season the Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista's Brengle Terrace Park has been transformed into a winter wonderland. It’s called Jingle Terrace Live … and Moonlight Stage Productions managing director Mike Bradford says the four-year-old event is bigger and better than ever. “We have video and light shows available for people to be able to come and see. concessions, crafts and special events for the kids to do. Scavengers hunts, photo opportunities with Santa. Even nights like Maker’s Market and live band on certain nights as well.” So far this year … Bradford says the free event has brought out more than 20,000 people since it started on December 8th. The outdoor holiday event is for people of all ages … and the show will go on, rain or shine. It runs nightly from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. through Saturday, December 23. Jacob Aere, kpbs news.
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It was a first in 2023.
California's three major symphonies; San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco launched the California Festival, a two-week celebration featuring classical music, with a focus on new composers.
Reporter John Carroll took in the sights and sounds of the San Diego Symphony’s preview performance of the festival - a performance that did not take place in California.
Fresh off a national tour that ended with a performance in Carnegie Hall last month, the San Diego Symphony was on the road again last week… out of the United States, but close to home. “To come here is I think important as we look for cultural bonds and connections.” That’s symphony CEO Martha Gilmer… and “here” is Tijuana… the Cecut… tijuana’s cultural center… the symphony presenting a free concert for our southern neighbors. At a pre-concert news conference, Gilmer and the consul general of Mexico in San Diego, Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, spoke of the transcendent meaning of this cultural event. “Their work has to benefit everybody, it has to reach every member of this single region. Although it’s composed by two regions, it’s in the end one sole region.” “The need for understanding and compassion and communication in our world is more important than ever and music can help us do that.” Back to the main purpose of the California Festival… showcasing works that are five years old or less… like David Chesky's the Abreu Danza, number four. “San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra are the anchors for the California Festival which is a 3-week period of time and we’ve invited many, many musical organizations around the state, 100 as a matter of fact, to perform new music, to showcase new composers.” But not just new composers… some of a previous era who broke the norms of their day were included… like Richard Strauss and his famous also Sprach Zarathustra… the piece requires the full 90-member orchestra… and that includes an organ! As you might imagine, moving the full orchestra here, including two harps, a marimba and of course the organ was quite the logistical challenge… a job which primarily fell to the symphony’s vice president of impact and innovation, Laura Reynolds. “It's a complicated jigsaw puzzle of packing that our incredible production team put together, so yes it has taken months of planning to figure out how many musicians, how many instruments, how we’re going to get it across the border in both directions.” The Cecut theater seats about a thousand people, and it was full… I'm told hundreds were turned away. If the reaction of the audience was any indication then this visit, this performance was on so many levels a rousing success! It happened on Dia de los Muertos, also the 200th anniversary year of the establishment of relations between the U.S. and Mexico… a day as Martha Gilmer said - to heal the wounds of our souls through friendship and music. John Carroll, KPBS News.
That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast was produced by KPBS Reporter Katie Hyson this week and edited by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. The podcast will be back on Tuesday. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and happy holidays.
