Questions remain about last month’s fire near SDSU
Good Morning, I’m Thomas Fudge, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, November 25th.>>>>
San Diego Fire-Rescue officials discuss brush management, after last month’s fire near SD-SU.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….#######
Three suspects in the Hillcrest pellet gun attacks pleaded not guilty late last week to battery charges and hate crime allegations.
The shootings allegedly targeted the LGBTQ-plus community.
Three 19-year-olds are accused of the pellet gun shootings that injured six people on September 7th. The suspects are Anthony Lopez-Quinonez, Arturo Herrera-Sustaita [Sus-stay-tuh] and Angelo Aron.
A co-defendant was previously arrested and pleaded not guilty in September.
All four defendants are now out of custody.
They face up to six years and four months in prison if convicted of all counts and allegations.
#######
Fall weather is in store for us this week, as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday.
There’s a slight chance of rain tomorrow (Tuesday), but the skies are expected to be clear on Thanksgiving Day.
Today (Monday) in the inland and coastal areas, temperatures will be in the high 60s, in the mountains, temps will be in the low 50s, and in the deserts, it’s expected to be in the high 70s.
########
And just a heads up that all public county offices, public health clinics, family resource centers, libraries and animal shelters are closed on Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving.
But county parks, campgrounds and neighborhood day-use parks will be open.
Essential services, including law enforcement and emergency animal control, will be available through the holiday.
County animal shelters will resume normal business hours on Saturday, and all other county offices will resume normal business hours on Monday, after the holiday weekend.
#########
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
<<<UNDERWRITING BREAK>>
######
<<<MUSIC BUMP INTO A BLOCK>>
##########
It’s been nearly a month since 40 acres burned near SD-SU, but questions about brush management and palm tree removal remain.
Reporter Katie Anastas says local officials tried to answer them at a forum last week [Thursday].
FIREFOLO1 0:49 SOQ
Questions remain after a fire burned 40 acres and destroyed one house, near San Diego State last month.
Community members wondered whether palm trees and overgrown brush could have been removed to prevent it. But San Diego Fire-Rescue assistant chief Dan Eddy says private ownership of the land limits what they can do.
“Most of the area and acreage that burned that we had on this fire was privately owned. Wasn't City of San Diego. It's privately owned. And so for us to go in there and clear that property out, would you like us to come in and knock down all your trees in your backyard? We can't.”
Fire officials say it takes the whole community to keep a neighborhood safe.
They recommend planting fire-resistant plants within 100 feet of your home, removing any dead or dying vegetation and trimming any tree branches that touch structures.
Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
##########
Some high schools in the San Diego Unified School District now have a place for new immigrant students to get help navigating their new surroundings.
Reporter Alexander Nguyen was at Friday’s grand opening of the Newcomer Welcome Center at Crawford High School.
NEWCOMER (x:xx) SOQ
NATS ribbon cutting
Through dance and a ribbon cutting … San Diego Unified’s Newcomer Welcome Center is officially open.
With more than 75 languages spoken across the district and roughly 15-hundred to 3 thousand new immigrant students each year … the center helps make these students and their families feel supported and cared for.
Marissa Alan is the senior director of the multi-lingual education department at San Diego Unified.
She says the center's purpose is to help students and families feel integrated into the community.
“When they arrive, we want to make sure that they feel welcome. Every single student that arrives has a right to an education. And we want to make sure that they know what their rights are and that they know their rights and that they feel welcome.”
The centers are set up at five high schools around the city, and most are open one day a week.
They also provide basic needs, housing resources and connections to community agencies … as well as transportation and interpretation.
The centers are funded by a 1-point-7 million dollar grant from the city of San Diego. AN KPBS News.
##########
San Diego is considering an ordinance that aims to preserve so-called "at-risk" affordable housing.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen explains.
PRESERVATION 1 (ab) 0:48 soq
When developers build affordable housing, the deed includes a restriction that guarantees rents will be affordable to certain income groups. But those restrictions can expire, leaving tenants at risk of unaffordable rent hikes. Under the new proposal, owners of affordable housing would have to give nonprofits and government agencies the option to purchase the property the moment they intend to sell. City Councilmember Vivian Moreno says that would close a loophole in state law.
“The construction of new homes is not keeping up with the need. This ordinance is reasonable, and if enacted, will be an effective tool to keep deed-restricted units in place across San Diego.”
The council's Land Use and Housing Committee on Thursday voted to advance the proposal to the full City Council. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
##########
Residents of an affordable R-V community in Vista have less than a week to move out -- or face legal action. The property will soon be managed by an organization that helps the homeless. North County reporter Tania Thorne talked to residents who say the change may make *them* homeless.
RVPART PT1 (4:32) SOQ
For years, the RV park at Green Oak Ranch in Vista has filled an affordable housing need for many families.
I paid 20,000 for the house. My rent is a thousand. But because I work at the gate, they take $200 off a month. I pay $800 a month.
Hubert Reed Jr has been living at the park for almost 9 years with his family.. In a tiny house that was already on the property.
Man I've been in California 38 years. I have never lived anywhere like this.
Reed has to find a new space by December 1st… but his tiny house is now a challenge.
Because of the height No mobile home park wants it.They don't want it. Its too high, so it have to be moved to private property. It costs anywhere from 5 to $7000 just to move it.
When we first visited Green Oak Ranch last summer, over 30 families lived in the RV community. In July, the nonprofit Solutions for Change was chosen to take the property over in a lease-to-own deal.
That takeover doesn’t happen until January first… but eviction notices have already gone out
And it's just kind of wild that they want me to really just get out and be gone by December 1st and if I can sell my house, I will have the money to go where I want it…
Laundry facilities and some other amenities have already been removed from the park. Reed and other residents are pondering their next move.
Why? What the heck? What's the rush? You find us puzzled. What’s the rush.
Finding affordable housing hasn’t been easy.
And for many, a new RV park is out of the question because their rigs are too old.
Many communities do not accept RVs 10 years or older.
Karin Allison has one of those older R-Vs. She says they’ve been given leads to resources, but because they’re not currently homeless… those leads have gone nowhere.
I was like, I'm supposed to wait until I'm in my car with your kids and then call you because then you can help me if I if I'm calling now and I still have housing.
Allison and her family have experienced homelessness before.
I'm trying to go from one stable setting into the next to not this again into the living in a tent with my kids. They cant help you until you/re absolutely under the bridge.
She fears this displacement is forcing many of the families into the welfare system for the first time.
The R-V Park is on land that has been leased by Green Oak Ministries for 70 years. The ministry has managed a men’s rehab program and recreational programs as well as the R-V Park.
This is a delicate ecosystem, the way we the camps and the ministry interlock and fund each other or need each other. This is that was Ari's baby. And when he passed away, the only person who had that vision passed away.
“Arie DeJong was the owner of the land. He died in 2023, and management of the land was passed to a land board which terminated the ministry’s lease. ..
The lease is getting passed on to another non profit.
Solutions for Change says they will expand their program for homeless families on the property.
They say their future plans for the ranch look bright …but the RV park isn’t something they could take on.
In the meantime, Reed, and the remaining residents of the RV park are left figuring their next move.
The way they've turned on us. it just hurts. You know, I was so for them, this like everything is about them now or the business.And I'm like, what about all these people that's been here that we've ate to so many Thanksgiving dinner together? I know every kid's name and it's like, we don't matter anymore.
The eviction has raised questions about the legality of the park.. And now the city of Vista is stepping in to help.
More on that tomorrow.
TT KPBS News
########## Longer music break
It’s well known that the ocean waters off our coast is a nursery for juvenile white sharks.
But until now, scientists have not known how long those baby sharks stay in the nursery.
Reporter Alexander Nguyen says a new study sheds some light on that.
BABYSHARK 1(an) TRT: 0:57 SOQ
Nats waves
The beaches off the coast of La Jolla are prime swimming and surfing spots.
And it’s not unusual to see dolphins or the occasional shark.
The waters off San Diego are a well-known nursery for great white sharks.
“What is less clear is when do they actually make the transition to those adult habitats.”
Ryan Logan is a post-doctoral researcher at the shark lab at Cal State Long Beach.
They’ve been using acoustic telemetry to track juvenile white sharks for over a decade.
“We're actually, for the first time, able to see when an individual shark moves from the nursery habitat, when they don't come back to the nursery habitat to when they move to the adult habitat. And that happens right at about the 9 to 10ft range, which would correspond to about a, 4 to 5 year old shark.”
Logan says knowing how long great white sharks use the nursery will aid scientists in future conservation plans for this population of white sharks, and, ultimately the species.
AN/KPBS
##########
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
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 Thomas Fudge. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
