Migrant shelters struggle to stay open
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, June 14th.
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Why migrant shelters in Tijuana are struggling to stay open.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The Orange County transportation authority this week declared an emergency to expedite construction to protect the railroad tracks in San Clemente from landslides.
Passenger rail traffic to San Diego has been shut down multiple times this year because of landslides.
The route is currently still closed to passengers.
The O-C transportation authority owns the tracks used by Metrolink and Amtrak trains.
The emergency declaration gives the C-E-O authority to approve contracts more than 250-thousand-dollars and will expedite the process of hiring a contractor to construct a wall where the hill is sliding, to keep debris off the tracks.
As of now, officials do not know when rail service could return to normal.
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The county could receive more than 260-million-dollars in state transportation funding under a recommendation announced yesterday.
California Transportation Commission staff recommended the funds go to the county to improve rail lines in north county, complete the East Otay Mesa Port of Entry, plus more.
The money would come from Senate Bill One, the Road Repair and Accountability Act.
It will be considered by the commission on June 29th.
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The County Board of Supervisors is holding its final public hearing tomorrow, on the more than 8-billion-dollar proposed budget for the new fiscal year.
The budget plan includes increased spending to address homelessness, mental health challenges and substance use disorders.
Tomorrow’s public hearing is at 5:30 p.m. at the county administration center.
You can also listen or view it remotely and submit a comment online or over the phone during the meeting.
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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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Tijuana’s migrant shelters are struggling to stay afloat.
Border reporter Gustavo Solis says a few things threaten their long term future... declining donations and rising costs.
Proyecto Salesino is a Tijuana institution. For 37 years, the free soup kitchen has fed between 800 and 1,000 people each day. And the organization’s migrant shelters have given thousands of asylum seekers refuge on their way to the United States. But now it’s at risk of shutting down. “Si no Podemos, si temenos que cerar con dolor en le corazon.” Father Agustin Novoa says they lost major donors during the pandemic. And the current recession has made everything much more expensive. Claudia Portela manages its programs. She says the migrant shelter for women and children would be the first to close. At this rate, they have enough cash to keep the lights on another month.“Muy poco. A lo mas Podemos aguantar quizas un mes mas.” Shelters throughout the city are in a similar situation. They have been overcrowded and underfunded since 2020. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.
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In addition to battlefield tactics and military history, the army’s future leaders at West Point are learning about climate change.
Under a new initiative, cadets at the military academy are trying to help the defense department solve climate challenges that could affect national security.
Desiree D'iorio reports for the American Homefront Project.
"The next presentation here is going to be energy resilience of army infrastructure. take it away* in an auditorium adorned with west point’s motto -duty honor country - seniors presented their capstone projects as they geared up for graduation. one group’s presentation focused on the possibility of transitioning the army's tactical vehicles to a fully electric fleet, and modeling what the charging infrastructure would look like on the bases. "in conclusion, we can see that we have the data necessary to analyze the current army's non tactical vehicle fleet. and we have the knowledge of the ev replacements to conduct a lifecycle analysis to inform the army on what vehicles we should prioritize replacing, and what the estimated charging requirements would be at a given installation.* gregory langone, am engineering major, is one of the cadets who worked on the project. after his presentation, he said the work he’s done as a student will have a direct impact on the work he’ll do when he becomes an officer. “we're going to be seeing this technology roll out, and we're going to be some of the first people to actually see it in action and use it.” professors and fellow cadets weren’t the only audience members. so was paul farnan from the army office of installations, energy and environment. that office oversees energy use on army installations. farnan says the cadets’ work on charging infrastructure directly affects him as he works to get bases ready for more electric vehicles. “what they're developing here, i want to turn around tomorrow and actually get it onto the installations so that we can make it a more effective army.” farnan’s office has teamed up with west point to form the sustainable infrastructure resilience and climate consortium. they’re working to prepare the next generation of leaders for the climate change challenges they face now, and into the future.farnan says the focus is on solutions. “let's take the real world, big army problems that our soldiers are facing every day in their training and on the battlefield, and let's use this academic institution to apply the theory behind it. and then as they figure it out in theory, let's then take it and put it into the hands of soldiers and let's test it out in the real world.” farnan says those challenges include fuel efficiency and how to store backup power. “we've been working with these students throughout the course of the academic year. the ingenuity, the knowledge, the different perspective that they bring, is incredible.”professors at west point say the consortium’s work transcends political debates over climate change … and over what the military’s priorities should be.col. corey james runs the department of chemistry and life science. “sometimes these topics get watered down with politics and that's unfortunate. some would say, well, you're trying to do things that would take away the army and the military's ability to fight and win the nation's wars.”james says the opposite is true. preparing for climate change is line with the academy’s mission: to educate and train cadets on how to win wars. “being more efficient will obviously help us with carbon emissions and those sorts of things. but it will likely make us more survivable and resilient on the battlefield as well.” cadets are not only studying how to electrify and charge military vehicles. they’re also researching how water - either too much or too little - will affect geopolitics. how extreme weather is impacting bases. how artificial intelligence can play a role in energy efficiency. langone - the west point senior - says he’s proud to know his project on electric vehicles could have a real-world use for the army. “there is a group of five, like seniors in college but we're working for the office of the assistant secretary of the army and the findings that we come up through this project can drastically affect how the army is acquiring electric vehicles, both domestically in the united states, and in our installations” langone says when he becomes an officer, he plans to continue studying the feasibility of the charging infrastructure models he developed as a student. and he says if the technology can work on army bases, civilians could benefit in cities as well. i’m desiree diorio, on the campus at west point.
TAG: That story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.
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Coming up.... in our ongoing series on public art, we hear from the person who takes care of the pieces created by Niki de Saint Phalle (Nicky De Sehn Fahl). We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.
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The U-S-A surfing championship is back in town this week.
This year, international para-surf athletes are invited to compete for the first time.
North county reporter Alexander Nguyen talks to a Carlsbad para-surf athlete who is pushing for the sport to be included in the 20-28 paralympics.
liv stone was born a congenital bilateral above-the-elbow amputee.“it basically means that i was born with shorter arms with only two fingers on each hand.” but that didn’t deter her. the 20-year-old carlsbad resident was active in multiple sports and 5 years ago … she fell in love with surfing. “it just felt so right, and it felt like something that was really natural.” with the usa surfing championship in oceanside this week … the three-time world champion is among the athletes pushing for para surfing’s inclusion in the paralympics for the l-a games in 20-28. the para-surfing finals are wednesday and representatives from the l-a olympics will be there to evaluate the sport. a/n kpbs.
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Even if you don't know much about art, you may have seen Niki de Saint Phalle's (NICKY DE SEHN PHAHL’s) famous colorful sculptures.
Her longtime assistant takes care of them all.
But arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans says the high cost of repairs —and years of vandalism, make this job difficult.
French artist Niki de Saint Phalle lived in San Diego towards the end of her life, until her death in 2002. Her final work of public art, Queen Califia's Magic Circle, is located in Escondido's Kit Carson Park. There's an abstract, mirrored maze, and a circle of "totems" of fantastical creatures — all surrounded by giant serpents. "we call this M&Ms because looks like M&Ms." Saint Phalle died before the work was finished. Lech Juretko, Niki de Saint Phalle's longtime assistant helped finish the job, and he continues to take care of her work — stone by stone."It was a big shock for me, too, if you know person for so many years, you get close to But after, you know, life goes on and you have to finish it." This type of art that Saint Phalle created in her later years is vivid and recognizable. Bright, larger-than-life characters and animals, each one mosaiced with intricate details — like small polished stones They are shiny, they are vibrant colors and as you can see there's a lot of different colors… and I don't think you can buy this right now. Juretko met Saint Phalle in 1994 as a handyman working on her home. She then asked him to help with her mosaic sculptures, and before long, he was traveling with her around the world. She was the best person. As an artist, sometimes you hear that the artist is ugly or this and that… she was the best person….… Because of her I learned, let's say everything what I learned is because of her. He worked closely with Saint Phalle on many of her sculptures, including most local pieces like the Nikigator and Queen Califia. Here they are in a KPBS documentary from 2002. "NIKI: What do you like best, Lech? LECH: I like the pinky one from Madagascar, bc it comes only from Madagascar… not the bright color like this Her elaborate construction makes taking care of the sculptures a significant job. When a stone falls out, replacement is more like a dental procedure than art. But the cities that own these works of public art can’t always provide enough funding for the regular upkeep Juretko thinks is necessary. Queen Califia is often closed to the public — especially after rain. After some vandalism in the sculpture's early years, it was fenced off, surveillance cameras were installed, and hours were limited to a few mornings a week and occasional Saturdays, when volunteer docents can be present. And then someone has to do the repairs. Voice of Danielle Lopez, City of Escondido "It's always been lech. It will probably remain lech" Danielle Lopez is assistant director of community services for the City of Escondido — public art falls under her purview. For repair work, the Niki Charitable Art Foundation splits the cost. Recently, they repaired a large section, to the tune of $56,000. These tiles are from New Mexico from Italy from you know, like it's not like something you can just go to your local. tile store and pick up Juretko wants the people who hold the purse strings to think about maintenance rather than repairs. But when you come here when everything looks disaster and you start from the scratch again, and after three, four five years the same. I mean how many times you can do this? The ideal solution, it should be maintenance. There's something intensely personal about Juretko's dedication to the work of Niki de Saint Phalle, his longtime friend and mentor. JDE, KPBS news.
TAG: Queen Califia's Magical Circle is open in Escondido from 9 a-m to noon, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month.
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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 Wednesday.
