Ocean Beach Pier won't be repaired

Good Morning, I’m Emilyn Mohebbi, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, August 26th.

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The city of San Diego will not reopen the existing Ocean Beach Pier. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Most county deputies won’t be forced to work mandatory overtime anymore.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez made the announcement late last week.

She said staffing shortages and covid-19 challenges forced the office to order mandatory overtime for the past few years.

She does expect voluntary overtime shifts will continue.

And some roles are still under mandatory overtime, including dispatchers and call takers.

The office is currently hiring deputies, dispatchers, nurses and mental health clinicians.

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We’re just over two months away from the 20-24 General Election.

Other than the race for president, there will be local and statewide measures on the ballot too.

Registered voters in the county will receive a ballot in the mail the week of October 6th.

Early voting at the Registrar’s office and official ballot drop boxes will be available starting the second week of October.

And then, select vote centers will open at the end of October.

The final day of voting, which is election day– is November 5th.

If you have any questions about what’s on your ballot, the voting process, or anything election related, you can head to our KPBS Voter Hub and submit your questions.

Just visit w-w-w-dot-KPBS-dot-org-slash-elections.

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The weather is going to start heating back up today (Monday), after a few slightly cooler days.

In the inland areas, temperatures will be in the mid 80s, by the coast and in the mountains, temps will be in the high 70s, and in the deserts, it’s expected to reach 104 degrees.

If you need a place to escape the heat, there are plenty of Cool Zones open throughout the county.

To find the Cool Zone site closest to you, visit the county’s website, or call 2-1-1.

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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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San Diego city officials say repairing the Ocean Beach Pier is no longer feasible.

Reporter Katie Anastas spoke to residents about the city’s plan to demolish and replace it.

High surf damaged the Ocean Beach Pier last October, prompting the city to close it. A few months later, the upper part of a pile broke off and fell into the ocean. ARREGUIN Everybody misses it. The community misses it. Vic Arreguin has lived in OB for most of his life. He used to fish on the pier every day. ARREGUIN If I would have been out there doing what I really love and putting my lobster traps out there, I could have made a lot of money this year. City leaders expect replacing the pier to cost at least $170 million and take at least five years. Ocean Beach resident Kevin Mir says it’s worth the wait. MIR It’s an icon and it should be appreciated and rebuilt with thought. The city is seeking environmental permits and grant funding for the project. They plan to share an updated design for the new pier this fall. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

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A San Diego veterans group began their annual protest against the Miramar Air Show late last week.

Military and veterans reporter Andrew Dyer has more on the group and why they’re protesting.

Air force veteran david patterson stands on the carroll canyon road overpass with members of san diego veterans for peace. banners hang on a fence telling commuters on interstate 15 that air show fuels the climate crisis. patterson says as veterans they understand the costs of u.s. military operations and of war. david patterson, san diego veterans for peace “we know what it does. we've seen, we've seen what it does to people's families when somebody gets injured or killed we've seen what happens to nations and we've seen what kind of destructives, you know, construction, we can put on people.” the group’s protested the air show for the last nine years. patterson says it’s wrong to showcase weapons to children and families as family fun. “i would like to say the the people that go here for a thrill realize that this is this is really it might be a thrill but it's not good for us.” the base didn’t respond to a request for comment.. veterans for peace plan to demonstrate from freeway overpasses weekly until the air show the last weekend of september.. andrew dyer, kpbs news.

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A new grant program in the state is boosting mental health support in San Diego schools.

Health reporter Heidi De Marco says certified wellness coaches are helping address the rise in students' mental health challenges.

Last school year, California's student-to-counselor ratio was 464 students to every one counselor. That’s nearly double what the American School Counselor Association recommends. To address the shortage, state grants are helping pay for wellness coaches for one school year.  San Diego Unified School District will hire 10 wellness coaches. Danielle Octon is one of them. DANIELLE OCTON What they mostly come in for is a lot of anxiety, stress, time management, lack of motivation. There's depression, suicide ideation. Principal Matt Fallon says Wangenheim will share a wellness coach with two neighboring schools. MATT FALLON There are times in which counselors aren't available. So having a wellness coach here would help maintain a consistent offering of support for all of our kids. If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide, you can call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

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A program in Mission Valley is connecting experienced "adaptive" climbers with newcomers to the sport.

Reporter Scott Rodd produced this story for KPBS’s ongoing series on volunteering.

“Adaptive climbing is rock climbing, but in your own unique way…whatever your disability is.” “My name is Jillian Shea.” “I was born missing my left hand. It's called amniotic band syndrome. It's when the umbilical cord wraps around the limb in vitro and cuts the circulation off, so I was never born with a hand.” “I’ve been adaptive climbing now, I think three, three and a half years.” “I'm an Adaptive deadlifter and I was in the Adaptive CrossFit scene for a while. And so I was trying to continue to evolve. Found adaptive climbing and fell in love with it.” “We are in Mesa Rim Climbing Center. Around us is different climbing walls — up here we have the more easier walls for people to try out first time they're climbing. All the different colors coordinate to the course that you're taking up the wall.” The organization we're volunteering with is called Paracliff hangers…Para Cliff hangers is a place for everybody and anybody that’s adaptive to feel comfortable in a space and be able to try something new.” “We have people that are deaf, people that are paraplegic, people that are missing limbs — legs, arms — people that are blind … all disabilities are welcome.” “So when they first come, typically they're scared. They're not sure if they can do it, which is the best part because I think they all overcome that fear as soon as they climb their first wall. And then I think it's an addiction after that. I mean most people that I know that have done it one, don't just do it once, they do it multiple times.” “I’m going to find Abdul and catch him. Is he down there?” “You want to do the purple one? Right next to it? Yeah.” “My name is Abdul Rahman Ibn Asadullah.” “This is my second time climbing [laughs]. I started last week.” “My amputation happened last year. I got into a off-roading accident in a side-by-side, a UTV in Utah like Southern Utah. Basically just flipped the UTV, landed on my arm. “About all I have left is a little part of the forearm right there. So a lot of my wrist and my whole hand is gone. When I walked in here my first thoughts were definitely like, ‘I don't belong here.’  I was like, I feel like I'm, I guess like not the right man to do this and I see everybody climbing and stuff and they're all like super slim and fit and scaling these walls … and so I definitely had a feeling that I didn’t belong when I first walked through the doors. But that quickly faded.” “but that, that quickly faded.” “So the Rope has an eight loop on it. We're gonna go through the bottom part of your harness into the top part of your harness and pull.” “And then the carabiner is gonna go into the hole and into my harness then I'm gonna lock it in. So now I am locked and safe, so Abdul cannot fall.” “So in the beginning when I first got my my injury, I was very much on the couch for like four months after I got out of the hospital. So really my goal coming here is to get up off the couch and stay active and you know use as much of my limbs as I possibly can.” “You know, I honestly I think I use my arm here climbing — like my residual limb — I think I used it here climbing more than I do in my day-to-day life. So the real goal is just to stay fit and you know keep pushing.” “All right, whenever you're ready, go ahead and climb. Take your time… Perfect. You got it. You got it. You’re so close.” “So, I started the chapter of the para Cliffhangers in San Diego about a year ago.” “My name is Jono Lewis. I'm the Adaptive program supervisor here at Mesa Roman Mission Valley.” “Having volunteers that have disabilities themselves is a really important thing that we have, because representation is a big part of what draws people in and why people want to come back.” “What I see from a lot of climbers is a boost not just in the physical performance, but in their confidence off of the wall. Something that I've seen time and time again is people's ability to feel comfortable trying new things and problem-solving outside of climbing is increased.” “...because people have have almost like an innate — innate barrier breaking that they're doing within themselves.” “Good job, that’s a hard one … Are you gassed? I am gassed [ambi of carabiners, fade down]

TAG: That story was produced by reporter Scott Rodd.

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Today is Women’s Equality Day.

And in case you didn’t know, there is a lot of women’s history on display here in the county.

The Women’s Museum of California cares for historic artifacts that demonstrate the history and experiences of women.

It’s located at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.

You can visit the museum Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 A-M to 5 P-M.

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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. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Emilyn Mohebbi. Thanks for listening and have a great Monday.