Pushback against Trump’s plans to cut VA staff
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, March 25th>>>>
Local veterans are pushing back on the Trump administration's plans to cut VA staff. More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
The San Diego City Council yesterday (Monday) voted to ban grocery stores from offering digital-only coupons.
The measure requires stores to offer physical versions of any coupons that they offer via apps, websites, and email promotions.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said digital-only coupons are inaccessible for many seniors on fixed incomes.
Even when you navigate the process correctly, you download the app, clip the coupon digitally and bring it to the cash register, you can still be told that the coupon has not been applied and will require more time.
San Diego is believed to be the first city in the country to ban digital-only coupons.
The measure could go into effect as soon as July.
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San Diego Unified School District leaders have unveiled a proposal that responds to the region's affordable housing crisis.
The plan outlines a strategy to build affordable housing for at least 10 percent of the district’s faculty and staff over the next decade.
It includes using district-owned properties and partnering with private developers to create more than 15-hundred affordable units.
The proposal will be discussed at today’s (Tuesday) Board of Education meeting,
It’s set for 5 p.m. at the Eugene Brucker Education Center.
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There are more than 400 confirmed measles cases across 19 states.
With the Spring Break travel season right around the corner, San Diego County public health officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
The county says children less than a year old are most at risk because they have not had their measles vaccine yet.
Children over 12 months who are not immunized and people with compromised or weakened immune systems are also at high risk.
There have been no reported measles cases in San Diego County this year.
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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.
The Trump administration says it’s planning to lay off more than 70 thousand Veterans Affairs staff. Critics say such cuts will negatively affect veteran healthcare and benefits.
Military and veterans reporter Andrew Dyer says local vets aren’t taking the cuts lying down.
On a late afternoon recently veterans in San Diego gather to protest impending cuts to the VA. It’s one of several such protests held around the country this month.
It’s here that I meet Cliff deWolff who served 20 years in the Navy. He was wounded in combat and receives disability benefits from the VA.
we need counseling services. We need other services. But they're slashing jobs left and right. That's why I'm here.
He says cuts are already impacting him.
Last month the VA fired almost 15 hundred probationary employees.
I've seen people die. I have I have known people who have committed suicide.
I suffer from PTSD. And the counselor that I had, that I had, she's no longer available to me.
Last month the VA fired almost 15 hundred probationary employees.
This month’s protests were organized after VA Secretary Doug Collins told veterans in a March 6 video on X to get used to changes. A US district court Judge issued a preliminary injunction last week requiring it to offer fired probationary employees their jobs back.
On Monday the Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to block it.
Every Thursday the Don Diego VFW hall in Logan Heights opens its doors to the community and serves free breakfast. Post Vice Commander Angel Garcia was cooking when we caught up with him.
I actually do use a V.A. health care. There's tons of concerns about it. It's. Wait times are pretty long now, as is. So cutting and cutting, you know, jobs and and laying off people and stuff like that's going to affect us. All of us across the board.
Friday in Oceanside, Democratic Representative Mike Levin held a hearing with veterans and advocates on the cuts. He says Republicans in Congress won’t stand up to the administration.
They have effectively ceded control to Elon Musk and to DOGE, which I call destruction of government by Elon, because that's what it is.
One of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk, has been empowered by Trump to make the government more efficient. The results so far have been thousands of layoffs, lawsuits and questionable claims of government savings.
The stated goal at the VA is to fire 70 to 80 thousand people and to bring the department to its 2019 staffing level. This was before the 2022 PACT Act opened VA benefits to millions more veterans and the agency beefed up staffing to accommodate.
Levin sits on the House Appropriations Committee, which helps craft spending legislation. He says no one has yet articulated why these cuts are needed.
We don't have clear answers because my Republican colleagues will not have hearings like this. They will not have town halls. They will not be accountable and transparent about why they support these moves, because they're afraid, in my view, to cross the president and to cross their biggest donor Elon Musk, who's been put in charge.
Marine Veteran Sarah Czech (pronounced check) says she relies on the VA and the move to cut staff left her feeling betrayed.
I know that's not the only way … that’s the way everyone is feeling right now. It's not only me, but a sense of betrayal and a sense of betrayal from our country.
Czech co-chairs the veteran and veteran family committee in California for the Forward Party — that’s the centrist political party started a few years ago by former Democratic presidential candidate and billionaire Andrew Yang.
She says veterans from both sides of the aisle are unhappy with what’s happening at the VA and that it’s an example of the failure of the two parties.
I believe that we're starting to see the breakdown of the two party system actively before our eyes every day. And there's a problem when Americans, by and large, are saying not just veterans, but Americans in general, that the political system is causing them stress and anxiety every day in their lives. That's a problem.
VA San Diego provided KPBS with a statement from the department in Washington, D.C. saying it is complying with Trump’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as the court’s preliminary injunction on firings. It did not, again, answer questions about impacts locally we first asked more than two weeks ago.
Andrew Dyer, KPBS News
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Faculty and students are staging walkouts and protests at C-S-U campuses this week.
They’re speaking out against what they say is financial mismanagement, along with crackdowns on student activism, and threats to diversity initiatives.
North County reporter Tania Thorne says it kicked off at Cal State San Marcos yesterday (Monday).
At Cal State San Marcos, a group of students protested the university's time, place and manner policy.
University leadership said a group of students violated that policy when protesting last month and interrupting a social mobility symposium.
Jaelin Ivester is with students for quality education. She says they rallied on Monday for a change in the policy.
Currently, we're protesting against the time, place and manner policy, which was implemented following the pro-Palestine encampments across the US. The TPM was leveraged against four students and two non students, two community organizers, as a way to keep them silent after they asked and requested the CSU to specifically protect undocumented students against ice and ice on campus.
In a statement Cal State San Marcos said the university supports free speech and peaceful protests.. But when a student group disrupts the free speech or safety of others, it is considered a violation.
Iverson says CSUSM isn’t the only campus where student activists are feeling attacked by university leadership.
More walkouts and protests are planned this week in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Sacramento.
Tania Thorne KPBS News
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San Diego has seen a growth in bike ridership in recent years as the city's network of bike lanes continues to grow. But metro reporter Andrew Bowen says not all bike lanes are created equal.
Many of the new bike lanes in San Diego are within the so-called "door zone." That's where drivers who just parked can fling open their doors into the bike lane and cause a collision. Laura Keenan is founder of Families for Safe Streets San Diego. She says these are examples of the city putting convenience over safety.
"I don't think they think of it in those terms when they're making the decisions, but ultimately, that's what is happening. And today, the Street Design Manual does not dictate they must prioritize safety over convenience."
San Diego is preparing to update its Street Design Manual. A draft released in December includes a wider range of options for designing bike lanes, but no strict policy on when physical protection is required.
"Since the bike lanes have come in, we have seen our walk-by traffic decrease 95%."
Liz Saba owns a jewelry store on 30th Street in North Park, where the city removed parking and installed protected bike lanes in 2021. She says she supports bike safety, but thinks the city needs to better manage its scarce parking supply.
"I think people are willing to pay to park. I think they will come if there's more parking meters in place, and I think that would be a good solution for everyone."
Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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Being at the right place at the right time may have helped a San Diego woman save the life of a baby bird. Reporter John Carroll has her story.
It was a couple of weeks ago… on a windy, rainy day. In a quiet Bay Park neighborhood, Sophia Alexander had parked her car to participate in a Zoom meeting. But before the meeting began, she noticed something close to her car. At first, she thought it was a light-colored rock—but it wasn’t.
“I saw like, a breathing pattern happening with this little fluffy guy and so I was like, is that a bird? And it kind of resembled an owl, and I was like, is that a baby owl?”
That’s exactly what it was—a nestling. A baby that had fallen out of its nest. The weather was getting worse, and Alexander knew she had to do something. She called the San Diego Humane Society and waited. About 20 minutes later, they arrived to pick up the nestling.
It turns out the baby bird was fine. The Humane Society contacted West Coast Arborists, a group with a cherry picker, and they were able to successfully renest it. That was very happy news for Alexander.
“Kind of special to be part of this experience, and it happened to be right here for that little guy. So, it’s a heartwarming story, and I’m happy that I was able to be here for him.”
The next time the baby bird leaves the nest, all involved in this raptor rescue hope it’s not by falling—but by flying! John Carroll, KPBS News.
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.
