Nurses at Rady Children’s Hospital strike

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

Nurses at Rady Children’s Hospital are in the middle of a 2-day strike.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines.

The National Weather Service is forecasting triple-digit heat today for local mountain and valley communities.

Heat advisories for those areas are in place until 9 p-m tomorrow night. Affected communities stretch from San Marcos to El Cajon.

Desert communities like Borrego Springs could see temperatures up to 118.

Forecasters say there’s a chance of thunderstorms in the county’s deserts and mountains next week.

This afternoon, the San Diego City Council will consider changes to how the city uses smart streetlights and automated license plate readers. A council committee approved the plan earlier this month. San Diego Police want more flexibility in where to put the technology.

They say infrastructure issues at some designated locations make installation unfeasible.

Some of the zones proposed include high traffic areas such as Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Mission Valley.

The TRUST ordinance prevents the cameras from monitoring immigration buildings, reproductive centers or places of worship.

A horse has died just two days into the start of the Del Mar racing season.

A spokesperson for the California Horse Racing Board says the 4-year-old horse named “Giver Not A Taker” was injured during the 10th race Sunday and had to be euthanized. This is the first racehorse to die this season at Del Mar, where opening day was celebrated on Saturday. The racetrack has drawn protests in recent years from animal advocates.

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

Nurses at Rady Children’s Hospital are striking for a second day.Health reporter Heidi de Marco says union leaders told KPBS the strike comes after months of negotiations with the hospital.

Hundreds of Rady Children’s Hospital nurses cheer as passersby honk in support of their 2-day strike. Union leaders say members rejected the hospital’s offer for the second time over the weekend.

“I’ve been working here over 20 years. There’s never been a strike.”

Jonathan Sollosy is a transport flight nurse for Radys. He says they’re fighting for:

“Better health care for our own children. We're trying to get better pay for younger nurses who can't even afford an apartment in San Diego and just trying to make reasonable conditions so that people who work here can live and help support the patients here and not be incredibly stressed out.”

Union members are asking for a 30% raise over the next three years. They say the pay increase will improve patient care by reducing turnover and enhancing recruitment competitiveness. Katie Langenstrass is the executive director for UNOCH Teamsters Local 1699.

“With covid, with the inflation, with the housing market, it's just the pot has boiled over and enough is enough.”

Rady Children’s Hospital said in a statement Sunday that they had hundreds of substitute nurses ready to fill in during the strike. The union nurses are expected to be back to work Wednesday morning. 

Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

The future of Green Oak Ranch in Vista is getting clearer.

Solutions for Change has been selected for the purchase of the property, throwing the County of San Diego and the City of Vista out of the running.

North County Reporter Tania Thorne gives us a look at what the change means.

Vista’s Green Oak Ranch will continue to be a property that transforms lives. 

The Vista-based nonprofit- Solutions for Change will be the organization taking over the land and expanding their services. 

For 25 years they have helped families overcome homelessness and addictions. 

But the sale raises questions about what will happen to the services already in place, including a men's rehabilitation program and an R-V park for low-income tenants

Here’s Jason Ventetuolo with Solutions for Change.

“Our goal isnt to walk in there and say, okay, everything changes, everything stops. We want to continue with everything that we can. There's going to be a lot of planning that's going to go into it, a lot of discussions that have to happen.But we're excited about that. That's the thing, we want to have those conversations with the community leaders again, with the elected officials, with these organizations, with the different camps. Hey, what can we continue to do? How can we continue to support the community?”

He says there could be a way to find more green space for the community, keep camps and retreats running, while helping families facing homelessness. 

They are expected to move in at the beginning of 2025 and will be holding public meetings before the move for community input. 

Tania Thorne, KPBS News.

The news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race, is sinking in for both political professionals and the public in general.

Reporter John Carroll hit the streets Monday to find out what people are saying.

We visited the Embarcadero and Civic Center Plaza to gauge reaction to President Biden’s decision to leave the race, and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

Everyone we spoke with was aware of what happened on Sunday, but opinions varied.  First you’ll hear from Alpine resident Darcy Heish, who supports former President Trump, and then San Diego resident Louise Labrie who supported Biden, and now supports Harris for President.

“I’m very thankful that he stepped down.  I do not think that he is currently capable of running our country at this moment.”

“I love Joe Biden.  I think he has been a phenomenal President…  But since he has stepped aside, I am so happy and excited about the Presidency of Kamala Harris.”

Mesa College Political Scientist Carl Luna says it’s unclear if enough voters are ready to get behind a woman of color to lead the country.  He says that makes her selection of a running mate critically important.  John Carroll, KPBS News.

Coming up.... Comic-Con is almost here and one of the biggest draws is the people. Cosplayers tell us how their art form helps them build community and confidence.

We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.

Comic-Con is upon us, and with it, the colorful cosplays that take over the convention floor.Student reporter Katerina Portela spoke to three San Diego cosplayers on how the medium creates a community of acceptance and creativity.

Walk into Comic-Con, and you’re likely to run into Princess Leia, Mario, or Spiderman. Not the characters themselves, obviously, but the cosplayers who love them and painstakingly create costumes to pay tribute to them.

But for many, cosplaying is much more than “dress-up”— it’s an outlet for connections and self-expression. 

Miles Montgomery was a shy middle schooler when he caught the cosplaying bug. 

“I started going to Comic-Con when I was 11 or 12 years old, and that was the first time that I had seen people dressing up as comic book characters and fantasy characters. And I was like, oh, normal people can just do this?”

Now, 20 years later, he comes to Comic-Con every year, lately as a mad max character.  

“It was interesting because you never think that anybody is quite as nerdy as you are. And then you meet other people that are literally dressing up as characters from these anime, from these video games. And you're like, oh, people actually meet my level and sometimes exceed it. So meeting those kinds of people gave me the confidence to be more ongoing, it definitely helped me with social anxiety and just meeting friends that I never would have otherwise.”

“There's a lot of people that choose dressing up, cosplaying as kind of their art form and their way to show their creativity, but also their appreciation for the character and the actors that portray them.”

Micha Ella uses cosplay to express her love for Carol, a character on the hit show The Walking Dead. 

“I was part of a handful of folks, both men and women, who were hardcore Carol cosplayers to the point where we had our own little Facebook group. Definitely for the Walking Dead, I did meet a lot of people that I don't think would be, you know, in my life or that I would even know of if it had not been for the cosplay community.”

In the show, Carol survives an abusive ex-husband and grows into a confident and capable leader. On the surface, Carol and Micha have little in common. 

Carol is an older white lady and Micha is a young filipina. but Micha says she admires the character, and she’ll never forget meeting the actress who plays her.

“Oh, it's awesome. I think she is one of those actresses that are more reserved, and so there are some celebrities who at first didn't get the whole, why is everyone dressing up as me? Kind of thing. But over the years, because I've met her so many times, she's gotten used to it and has warmed up to us. You know, the fact that there's so many of us that love and adore her.”

It was also through cosplay that Micha met her close friend nina. 

“We also do keep in touch and are pretty close, like, on a personal level. And, yeah, she comes to Comic Con usually every year and is usually the person that I roam around with. And because we have the mutual love for the Walking dead, we tend to, like, kind of prioritize that.”

Jimmy Sherfy found an acceptance in the cosplay community that he hadn’t experienced before. 

“I would meet, like, a lot of people on social media without even meeting them in person. Or if I did meet them, it was just like a quick picture, and eventually I would see them at conventions and, like, we would connect. And either they were cosplayers or they were nerdy like me.”

Jimmy says cosplay gave him the courage to do drag.

“I got asked by Chad Michaels, who's a famous Cher performer here in San Diego, from Drag race to urban Moe's, and he wanted me to be part of a Disney show, and I was like, oh, me. Like, what am I gonna do?”

Drag shows and cosplay competitions are a lot alike … both involve skits and lip synching.  But for Jimmy it goes deeper than that … 

“The cosplay community is kind of more accepting, I would say, then, about different body types, different ethnicities, different sexualities in general, and obviously, like, the LGBT community, that's, like, what it's all about. So I just feel like there's a good overlap there with the communities, and I've kind of found, like, my little place in there.”

Jimmy is now able to make a living as a cosplayer and drag queen. he says Comic-Con will be one of many conventions he attends this year for work … and it’s also a family reunion.

Katerina Portela, KPBS News.

Comic-Con begins this week, starting with tomorrow’s opening night at the Convention Center. Go to KPBS-dot-org for details on transportation, off-site events, and some recommendations for this year’s panels.

We’ll have more Comic - Con coverage for you in the days ahead.

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.