Preparing for Hurricane Hilary
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, August 18th.
>>>>
How to prepare for the strong winds and thunderstorms this weekend. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
######
A runoff election is nearly certain in the race for District 4 San Diego County Supervisor.
Janessa Goldbeck released a statement yesterday saying while there are still a few thousands of ballots to count, it appears her campaign does not have a path to victory.
San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe's lead grew in the latest count, to 41-percent.
And founder of "Reopen San Diego" Amy Reichert is holding onto the second spot, with about 29-percent.
The two appear to be heading for a runoff election on November 7th.
########
People living out of their cars now have the option to park in Vista’s first safe parking site, at the city's Civic Center.
Katie Melendez, a Vista council member, says there are more options to help keep families housed.
“I believe there are many people in our community that can benefit from short term emergency rental assistance to stay housed and prevent homelessness."
At a recent Vista council meeting, 1-point-4-million-dollars in rental assistance was approved for families needing help with rent, utilities, or property taxes.
########
A homeless encampment ban in Poway is now in effect.
The ban allows county sheriff's deputies to cite people for sleeping on public property if they refuse a shelter bed.
It will allow the county sheriff's department to remove illegal encampments in the city with at least 48 hours notice. Before removal deputies are also supposed to offer an available shelter space.
The ban was passed by the Poway city council on July 19th.
A similar ban went into effect late last month in the city of San Diego.
#########
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
##########
Hurricane Hilary is packing wind and drenching rains that are expected to reach the county this weekend.
Environment reporter Erik Anderson has details.
Hurricane Hilary could be the first to hit San Diego in more than 100 years. It is nearly as rare for a named storm to hit the county. National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Tardy says that only happened a few times. Alex Tardy National Weather Service San Diego “1976 Kathleen, 1977 Doreen. 1997 Nora. So there’s not many that we can look back at historically that even have a forecast coming right at us.” Tardy says a Pacific storm off the coast of California and a heat wave in the Midwest are creating an alley for Hilary to move straight toward San Diego. Hitting land and cold ocean water would weaken the storm, but the system will bring strong winds and drench San Diego, regardless. Erik Anderson KPBS News.
##########
As we get ready for the stormy weather this weekend, reporter Melissa Mae says you may be more prepared than you think.
MM: Remember those heavy winter rains? Well, they actually prepared the community for Hurricane Hilary. “Reach back to that and say, ‘What were the problems? What bothered me? What inconvenienced my lifestyle? And then mitigate those.” MM: Chris Heiser with the office of emergency services for the city of San Diego says to plan ahead of what you might need through Monday. “Think through the ‘What if’s.’ What if the power goes out? High winds can result in power outages, heavy rains can result. So, am I ready for a power outage? Do I have enough battery life on my cell phone, so I can maintain contact with family members? Do I have backup batteries for my laptop so I can maintain my situational awareness?” MM: The city has an emergency dashboard on its website where the public can monitor the storm and find resources. You can also download the county’s alert san diego app for notifications. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
##########
A marine charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in his barracks room was in a Camp Pendleton courtroom yesterday for a preliminary hearing.
Military reporter Andrew Dyer was there.
Private first class avery rosario is charged with three counts of sexually assaulting a child over the age of 12. his military attorney said at a hearing today rosario should not be court-martialed; that the pair met on tinder, where her profile said she was 21. according to text exchanges shown in court she told the marine she was 22. according to former marine attorney gary barthel, who is not involved with this case, that could make the difference. “that is a valid defense. if he had reasonable belief that she was of-age then that would be a legal defense.” it will be up to rosario's regimental commander whether the marine will face a court-martial. from camp pendleton, andrew dyer, kpbs news.
##########
Coming up.... We hear from San Diego’s poet laureate, who will be one of the authors headlining this year’s Festival of Books. That and more, just after the break.
##########
D-C is premiering the film Blue Beetle this weekend, and positioning it as the first Latin-X superhero on the big screen from a major studio.
Film critic Beth Accomando decided to ask chicana artist and fellow podcaster, Gaby Moreno about her reaction to the film.
Beth accomando Gabby, before we start talking about Blue Beetle, I wanted you to tell us a little bit about what superheroes you grew up with and your connection to those kind of comic book stories. GABY MORENO I grew up in the, like, 90s era, so, like 90s fox, kids, you know, ABC, all that type of stuff. So I grew up watching like, Mighty Morphin, Power Rangers, which was some of my favorites. X men spiderman, batman like the animated series teenage ninja turtles and so I grew up with that. So like Wolverine, Spider Man, Batman. Those are some of my favorites. Of course, from the female perspective, I like Jubilee and Storm and Rogue. I grew up with that type of era, and so it's always been something that's been part of my childhood and into my adulthood. I still am a huge fan, so I have a lot of stuff like either horror or action hero stuff. So it's something that's always been part of my life. BETH ACCOMANDO And you consider yourself a chicana artist and like me, you are deeply entrenched into pop culture. GABY MORENO Yes. BETH ACCOMANDO You were really looking forward to Blue Beetle. So did it live up to your expectations? GABY MORENO Yes, it did, and I feel like it actually surpassed my expectations. I don't want to set my hopes too high. So I was like I was trying not to hype it up too much, but yeah, I think it actually was better than I expected it was going to be. Like I said, I love the family dynamic. I really loved the lalita. She gave me vibes when she let her hair down, kind of like lasadlita. So it's like Mexican female soldiers from the revolutionary era. So I don't know, that was like an homage to that, but I just thought that was really dope. So like I said, I think whoever did the writing and all that did the research. So I think I read like an article, three words, like a love letter to the Latino and Mexican culture, which I really loved. BETH ACCOMANDO And did you identify specifically with any of the characters or the cultural reference points? I know after the film you talked about how you felt kind of connected to family. GABY MORENO Yes. So, yeah, for sure. Obviously, like I said, seeing a brown superhero, not animated, but actually in live action was really cool to see. And so, yeah, I can relate to Jaime Rey, especially being the oldest of a Mexican household, you have that pressure to be the one to support your family type of thing. It's just always been like, that the dynamic with the Latino culture. So I can relate to Jaime's character because he kind of had that on his shoulders, like, oh, what am I going to do? Because my family's losing their home and I should have been here. And I was also the first to graduate from college, me and my twin sister. It was like a huge thing accomplishment for us. So him, seeing him talking about that in the film, I was like, oh, wow, I can actually relate to this character. And even the sister, it reminded me of my younger sister, the dynamic, like I said, with the grandma, with the parents, too, like how everybody's so close? Because with my family, we don't really have aunts and uncles here. Mostly they're in Mexico. Here, we're like a smaller, small, niche family. So I could relate to that dynamic. And, yeah, I could see myself in a little bit of each character, I guess you can say. BETH ACCOMANDO And you mentioned animated versus live action. And I just wanted to ask this is being positioned as kind of the first Latinx superhero on the big screen from a major studio. So how does it compare to Miles Morales and Marvel's Spider verse the main difference. GABY MORENOLike I said, it's the animation part for me. I really love Miles Morales as well. I don't want people to think I'm hating or anything. And then I love Namor from the Black Panther films. Like, he opened also the door. And then I grew up watching El Santo and Blue Demon and stuff like that. Which, again, that's not the mainstream. But there has been superheroes just not like where everybody can see it on the big screen or anything like that. But I think that for me, was the main difference, I guess, as why it solidifies him as the first Latino superhero on the mainstream film. BETH ACCOMANDO And it wasn't just about the actors that you saw on the screen. There was also Latino talent behind the camera. And that's important to you as well. GABY MORENO Yes. So just watching the end credits at the and I started seeing a lot of Latino names there, and I was like, oh, wow. So it's crazy that it's made for the Latino culture by Latino people, too. So that was really interesting and really awesome to see that representation not just on screen, but behind the scenes. BETH ACCOMANDO Gabby, I want to thank you very much for attending the press screening with me and sharing your views on Blue Beetle. GABY MORENO Yeah, no, thank you so much for thinking to me and inviting me. It was an awesome experience.
TAG: Blue Beetle opens in theatres this weekend.
You can find Beth's review at k-p-b-s-dot-org-slash-cinema-junkie.
##########
This week you’ve been listening to interviews with authors who’ll be at the Festival of Books tomorrow, and here’s one more.
Jason Magabo Perez is San Diego’s poet laureate.
He’s the author of two poetry collections and has another in the works.
He’s a graduate of UC-SD, and is now director of the Ethnic Studies program at Cal State San Marcos.
Perez spoke with my former colleague Harrison Patiño about his role as poet laureate.
Perez started by reading a selection from his poem, “We Draft Work Songs For This City.”
Thank you, that was beautiful… Can you tell us more about that poem?
I understand you first became interested in poetry as a college student. What was that introduction like?
Your personal family history has also had a profound effect on your work, specifically when your mother, Leonora Perez, was framed by the FBI in the 70s. Could you tell us more about your mother’s story and how that’s influenced your work?
Your role as poet laureate will also include cultivating relationships with the community and telling stories across San Diego. Do you hope to make poetry more accessible through this work?
TAG: That was San Diego poet laureate, Jason Magabo Perez, speaking with former KPBS Midday Edition producer Harrison Patiño.
Perez will be on a panel at the Festival of Books on Saturday at 11:00 a-m.
The Festival runs from 10 a-m to 4 p-m, at U-S-D.
##########
That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Producer Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth and KPBS editor Nic McVicker. 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 weekend.
