San Diego native helped stop Colorado shooting
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, November 23rd.
The Army veteran who helped stop the Colorado Springs shooting is a San Diego native.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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Today C-H-P is starting what it calls its “maximum enforcement period” to crack down on D-U-I’s during Thanksgiving weekend.
All available CHP officers will be on duty from six tonight until Sunday night.
Last Thanksgiving weekend, C-H-P arrested more than one-thousand people statewide, on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
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The San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness received its largest private gift in the organization’s history.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezoz’s organization ‘Day 1 Family Fund’ donated five-million-dollars to the task force.
The regional task force is San Diego's lead organization in addressing the homelessness
crisis.
And said they will use the money to address homelessness among families, including higher rates of homelessness among families of color
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You can now get a free electric bike by signing up for a pilot program that looks at how e-bikes are being used in the County.
The program was started by SANDAG and Pedal Ahead.
Participants will be required to ride at least 100 miles per month for two years and will be able to keep the e-bike after completing the program.
Applicants must live in the county and be 18 or older.
Priority will be given to people that make less than 50-thousand a 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.
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The Army veteran who helped stop Saturday’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs… has deep ties to San Diego
Richard Fierro went to high school here, and graduated from S-D-S-U.
KPBS reporter Kitty Alvarado says he’s being praised by the L-G-B-T-Q community.
Richard Fierro is one of two people who helped stop Saturday’s shooting at Club Q. He was praised by community activist Nichole Murray Ramirez during a community vigil in Hillcrest Monday night. I love the two that stopped that terrorist … a straight veteran from the Army, an ally a friend we can’t do this alone without our allies and friends it was him and guess who else a drag queen … cheers. Before the vigil, there was a safety meeting, where elected officials and law enforcement showed their support for the LGBTQ community. San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said he is determined to keep the community safe."Our message is that we care. We care about this community. I have a lot of friends in this community I deeply care about this community and so I'm going to do everything I can as Chief of Police and I know my counterparts are going to assist me." Nisleit says his plans include stepped up patrols, special units and undercover officers. Kitty Alvarado KPBS News
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Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer, but a new report reveals just a fraction of at-risk Californians are being screened for it.
KPBS Health reporter Matt Hoffman says early detection could save someone’s life.
A new study from the American Lung Association finds California has the worst lung cancer screening rate.. With only 1 percent of those at-risk coming in for them Buchholz It really breaks my heart because lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer-related death Dr. Tom Buchholz (Buck-holtz) is the medical director at Scripps Health’s MD Anderson Cancer Center.. He says lung cancer is typically diagnosed at later stages when the survival rate is low, but cases caught early have much better outcomes– Dr. Tom Buchholz, Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center We have to have a greater concerted effort to get those patients in need of screenings to the appropriate screening studies Doctors say anyone over 50 who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for over 20 years should be getting screened. MH KPBS News.
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A major earthquake that hit off the Baja California coast… and was widely felt in parts of San Diego… is a reminder for us to be earthquake ready at all times.
KPBS reporter Alexander Nguyen talked with those who work to understand earthquakes
The 6-point-2 quake struck just before 8:40 Tuesday morning off the coast of Las Brisas … about 85 miles south of Ensenada. It was felt as far north as Oceanside. While the quake was hundreds of miles away … it still provides valuable information for engineers researching earthquake safety in San Diego. Joel Conte is a structural engineering professor at UC San Diego. “And then with these earthquake records, we use them and we can reproduce them on our larger shaking table that you can see in the background here. And then we can test different types of models of structures to see how they behave during earthquakes.” Generally speaking … Conte says homes and buildings are safer than they were a generation ago … but it’s always a good idea to get a seismic inspection from a professional every few years. AN/KPBS
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The U-S and Mexico are fierce soccer rivals.
But in a cross-border region like San Diego, fans cheer for both teams.
KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis says the World Cup brings a special atmosphere.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet. Bigger than the World Series, the Super Bowl, even the Olympics … Every four years, the best soccer teams in the world compete to see who lifts the cup. And there’s something extra special about the tournament when you live in a border region Team USA didn’t qualify for the last World Cup. That’s one reason why Steve Garcia is ready for this year to be extra crazy. The co-owner of the 3 Punk Ales brewpub in Chula Vista is expecting some big watch parties. Bigger than in 2018 when Mexico fans packed the brewery to cheer their team. “An unfortunately last year, last World Cup, there was no US. So we don’t know exactly how that’s going to go this year. But last World Cup was awesome. It was El Tri, everybody came out 8 in the morning games, 6 in the morning games, it didn’t matter. We had food trucks posted up.” The US and Mexico fans are supposed to hate each other. But that’s hard to do in the borderlands when you have so much in common. Fans from San Diego trek to Tijuana to cheer for the Xolos, and kids from Mexico play on San Diego’s elite youth soccer teams. “Football is football bro. You know more than anybody else if you’ve been here in Southern California being a border town being in Chula Vista. Football is football, soccer is soccer, the love and the passion for the game and for the matches is second to none.” Garcia still remembers die-hard USA fans wearing the green Mexican jerseys 2018.“We had a lot of American fans wearing El Tri gear. I got video to prove it. I have video of you cheering and singing the Mexican national anthem.” Daniel Chamberlain is president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Outlaws – a Team USA supporters’ group. He’s traveled all over the US and Mexico to watch the two rivals go at it. He says it’s always an interesting experience. Outlaws “It’s a heated rivalry, especially on the field. But it’s interesting when you’re in the stands, I’ve seen it when Mexico wins US fans taking their jerseys off wearing their Mexico jerseys and I’ve seen it the other way. I don’t like it, I think you need to pick a side but I just think it drives both teams which I’ve always enjoyed that part.” Chamberlain credits Mexican fan culture for spreading the love of soccer in the US … it wasn’t always this easy to follow the sport if you lived north of the border. When he was growing up in the 1980s, most American channels wouldn’t broadcast any games.Outlaw “So, to watch games the only way we could watch them was in Spanish with the Mexican league and sometimes, for us older people, we had to use those rabbit ears that you put on your TV and guide it around. I think that’s what made San Diego so unique.” Chamberlain says until he was in his 20s he probably watched more games in Spanish than English. Back at 3 Punk Ales, multicultural fans say cheering for multiple teams is a reflection of their identity. Steven “I love it because I’m Black and I’m Mexican so I’m both. I love both nations. And it’s dope because you have two chances to win the World Cup.” Juan wore a USA jersey to the game between the U.S. and Wales on Monday. He planned to come back on Tuesday wearing a green jersey. “For the most part Chula Vista or maybe South San Diego you have a lot of people who grew up in the United States and but have roots in Mexico and we root for both teams. ” Garcia is already planning for 2026. That’s when Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will combine to host the World Cup. “Am I excited for this? Yes. I’m more excited about 2026. As soon as we get those North American countries involved, the US, Canada and Mexico, that’s going to be bananas.” Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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Coming up.... Thousands of pies were sold for a good cause. We’ll have that story and more, next, just after the break.
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A local food organization is getting ready for a huge pre-Thanksgiving pie delivery.
KPBS reporter Melissa Mae tells us thousands of pies are being sold to help feed critically ill San Diegans.
MM: Dozens of San Diego pastry chefs, caters and bakeries all donated their time and talent to Mama’s Pies, one of the largest annual bake sales in San Diego… and on the menu are pies… 32 hundred of them! MM: Jenna Novotny is the director of development for Mama’s Kitchen, who benefits from the funds raised from the pies. JN “Each pie purchased helps to fund the preparation and delivery of twelve medically tailored meals for critically ill San Diegans which is what Mama’s Kitchen does 365 days out of the year.” MM: Mama’s Kitchen is very close to reaching their goal of raising $145 thousand dollars and are still accepting monetary donations at mamas pies dot org slash donate. Melissa Mae KPBS News.
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With Thanksgiving tomorrow, our film critics wanted to highlight a movie they are thankful for.
They choose TAR because they say it’s a challenging, complex film that deserves appreciation,
Here’s KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando and Moviewallas podcaster Yazdi Pithavala.
That was Beth Accomando speaking with Yazdi Pithavala.
You can hear their full conversation on TAR on Beth's Cinema Junkie podcast.
You can now stream the film on AppleTV and more.
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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. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll be back Friday.
