Mixed reviews on San Diego climate plans
Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Thursday, April 14th>>>>
Mixed reviews on the region’s climate action plans
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
San Diego law enforcement leaders say they’ve agreed to change how cases where officers shoot and kill people are investigated. They said on wednesday that when a law enforcement officer in any department in the county other than the sheriff’s department shoots and kills someone, the sheriff’s department will do the investigation. If the incident involves a sheriff’s deputy, San Diego police will handle the investigation.
Police reform advocates demand that no law enforcement agency investigate any other law enforcement agency. But Undersheriff Kelly Martinez rejected that.
“I understand the question, I understand the point, everyone thinks every agency’s the same and that we all work together very closely, but it’s really not, they’re much more independent, we’re all independent of each other.”
Martinez says every local law enforcement agency in the county has signed the new agreement.
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SANDAG plans to move forward on a project to connect public transportation to the San Diego International airport. The chair of SANDAG, Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, said on Wednesday that Downtown San Diego is the preferred site for the central transit hub. The hub would serve anyone going to and from the airport, whether by bus, trolley, the COASTER or Amtrak.
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The San Diego Padres are having their home opener today at Petco Park.
The team will take on the Atlanta Braves tonight, with the first pitch scheduled for 5:10 pm. San Diegans had to wait a bit longer for the Padres home opener because of bargaining delays that included a three month lockout.
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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.
Climate advocates are giving the region mixed reviews when it comes to developing climate action plans.
KPBS environment reporter Erik Anderson says that may cost the region access to state and federal funding.
More than half of the region’s municipalities have climate action plans and the latest report card singles out three examples of good ones, Escondido, Encinitas and La Mesa. The top ranked Escondido plan focused on climate equity, green infrastructure and food availability. Casa Familiar’s Alejandro Almador says the region’s communities of color continue to carry a heavier environmental burden than their neighbors.
Alejandro Almador, Casa Familiar
“San Ysidro is one of the communities that has to endure the exposure to higher levels of air pollution caused by freeways that surround and intersect our community.”
Almador says that leaves residents more vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. Poway is the only city with no commitment to developing a climate action plan.
Erik Anderson KPBS News
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The president of the san diego humane society just got back from a special trip to Poland to help the pets of ukraine.
kpbs reporter kitty alvarado says dr. gary weitzman left his heart there, and he hopes to return to do more.
What a good good girl
It’s just a typical day for Dr. Gary Weitzman, a veterinarian and president of the San Diego Humane Society, caring for pets and making sure they get a good home is his mission …
Recently that mission took him to Poland’s border with Ukraine
Hi I’m here with this little guy we found this morning … he’s doing really well and we’ve named you Slava, like Slava Ukraini
To me pets are medicine, honestly they’re the medicine that’s going wrong in our world
When he saw images of people fleeing from the war, with their pets, he knew he had to help,
And what we wanted to make sure was that they didn’t have to lose the animals on top of their homes and everything else in their lives
he took medicine and supplies and worked at a makeshift animal shelter set up in a tent and helped as many pets as he could in ten days
He hopes to return but until then he says he will continue to help through donations.But he won’t forget those he helped comfort through helping their pets.
I think what I did was very, very little, with the scope of what’s happening, the real heroes are the Ukrainian people, honestly.
Kitty Alvarado KPBS News
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The CDC is extending its masking mandate on airlines and public transportation through May 3. Meanwhile, recent data from San Diego County indicates continued low rates of covid-19 infection, hospitalizations and deaths.
Dr. Eric Topol is the director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla. He spoke to KPBS Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon.
That was Dr. Eric Topol speaking to KPBS Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon.
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San Diego leaders have announced a plan to create a San Diego Black Arts & Culture District in the Encanto neighborhood.
KPBS Speak City Heights reporter Jacob Aere has more.
The San Diego Black Arts and Culture District would brand the Imperial Avenue area in San Diego’s Encanto neighborhood as a Black cultural center.
San Diego Council President pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe says it would honor the hard work and contributions of the Black community.
“An Arts District has the potential to help us attract more business, more cultural organizations, events and tourism to this area while not forgetting who we are and who got us there.”
The actual location of the district would be on Imperial Avenue between 61st and 69th street, including Marie Widman Memorial Park.
The City Council’s Economic Development Committee heard the proposal for the Black arts & culture district for the first time Wednesday afternoon. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
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Coming up.... Veterans may be more likely to develop eating disorders than civilians. We’ll have that story from the American homefront project, next, just after the break.
A recent study suggests that military veterans might be more likely than civilians to develop eating disorders, especially if they’ve experienced P-T-S-D or sexual assault. It's an area that hasn't been researched much in the past.
Desiree D'iorio reports for the American Homefront Project.
[Chandler Rand has struggled with various eating disorders since she was a kid. She says she’s healthy now, but her recovery is an ongoing process. She still has to fight off negative thoughts about her body image and weight.
“ It's basically like walking a tightrope is what it means for me day to day.”
Back in 2016, Rand was a Marine. She’d been successfully treated for anorexia as a teenager, but after boot camp, she began to binge eat and became bulimic.
“I don't think I saw that as part of my eating disorder at the time. I think I just saw it as part of being a good Marine.”
To Rand, that meant meeting the strict military standards for weight and body fat percentages. At the same time, she was coping with a sexual assault that happened in college.
“You just want to obsess over something other than fear and panic or sadness and guilt. So you try to place this moral high ground on food and fitness.”
People like Rand, and others who develop harmful eating habits during their service, have not received much attention from the Departments of Defense or veterans affairs. But a study by the VA in Connecticut shows that veterans have bulimia at about three times the civilian rate. Some develop eating disorders while they’re in , and others grapple with food habits after they’re out.
Dr. Robin Masheb is a research psychologist and the founder of the Veterans Initiative for Eating and Weight. It’s one of the only national programs that studies eating disorders in veterans.
“I was seeing very high rates of binge eating disorder in the veteran population. But I also wanted to know about these other disorders.”She says risk factors unique to military service go beyond the strict weight requirements.
“People talked about being in very chaotic eating situations where one had to either go for a long period of time without eating anything or having to eat very quickly under certain conditions. Those types of things also seem to be risk factors for setting people up for problems with their eating later in life.”
She also says veterans who were sexually assaulted are more likely to develop eating disorders.
For ex-Marine Chandler Rand, it was all of the above.
“I think the military environment aside from height and weight requirements can be a perfect storm for an eating disorder.”
That’s because so much of military life is based on numbers and rules.
“You're scored on your fitness tests and your combat fitness tests. And there's point systems for conduct and proficiency and the rifle range. So you always want to be in that perfect score range. And so to me, that was just another score I had to meet.”
Now, Masheb’s new study is focused on how VA doctors can screen veterans for eating disorders. She’s experimenting with different ways to ask veterans questions about their relationship with food.
“Typically, men and more typically, our veterans, are uncomfortable with that language of being out of control. Being in the military is about being in control.”
Masheb received a defense department grant to test virtual therapy to help veterans with eating disorders. But she says veterans face other challenges, like busting the myths that eating disorders only occur in young women, or that patients who are overweight can’t have an eating disorder.
In March, the defense department released new guidelines that grant more leeway for the service branches to loosen the restrictions on weight and fitness standards.
Masheb and Rand agree that’s a small step in the right direction.
I’m Desiree Diorio on Long Island.
And that was desiree diorio reporting from long island. This report was produced by the american home front project, a public media collaboration that reports on american military life and veterans. funding comes from the corporation for public broadcasting.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
