San Diego prosecutors plan to crackdown on wage theft

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, August 13th.

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San Diego prosecutors are planning to crackdown on wage theft. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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County leaders gave an update yesterday (Monday) on the Mobile Crisis Response Team program.

Each crisis team includes a mental health clinician, peer support specialist and a case manager.

Since 20-21, the crisis teams have responded to 13-thousand calls and served over 78-hundred San Diegans.

Here’s Luke Bergmann, the county’s director of Behavioral Health.

“MCRT is about understanding mental health as primarily a health care rather than a law enforcement issue. And as something grounded in patient’s rights and in an understanding of how traditional responses to mental health care have often further traumatized those, we are seeking to help.”

Dr. Bergmann says the County Budget for the 20-25 fiscal year will allow the program to increase from 34 to 44 mobile crisis response teams.

If someone you know, needs a mobile crisis response team, call 9-8-8.

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The San Diego Humane Society is still asking the public to adopt a pet, because of a record number of animals in its care.

The humane society hit another shelter record, with more than 850 dogs at its shelters.

Until September 10th, the humane society is reducing adoption fees by 50-percent to help ease overcrowded shelters.

And on September 7th, they will waive all adoption fees for “Clear the Shelters'' day.

If you’d like to adopt a pet, visit sd-humane-dot-org-slash-adopt.

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More summer weather ahead for this week.

The National Weather Service says temperatures will be close to average for this time of year.

In the inland areas, temps will be in the mid 80s, in the mountains and by the coast it’ll be in the high 70s, and in the deserts, it’ll be in the low 100s.

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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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Wage theft is a crime that comes in many forms, and prosecutors in San Diego are planning a crackdown.

Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says one thing to watch out for is employers withholding sick days.

AB: As of this year, all employees in California are entitled to five days or 40 hours of paid sick leave. It can be earned based on how much you work or offered all at once. Either way, employers have to tell their employees how much sick leave they’ve earned each time they get a paycheck. Kyra Greene of the Center on Policy Initiatives says some employers commit wage theft by discouraging their employees from using their sick time. KG: People have accrued sick days, but there's a sort of pervasive feeling in their workplace that if you take it, you'll get punished. You'll get given a worse shift or you will maybe even be fired. And those things are still illegal. AB: You can report wage theft to the state Labor Commissioner or the city or county Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

TAG: We’ll have more stories on how wage theft might be happening to you, in the podcast this week.

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Students in the San Diego Unified School District are back in school.

Reporter Katie Anastas stopped by Crawford High School yesterday (Monday).

CHEERLEADERS Go, go Colts, everybody yell, go colts… It’s the first day of school at Crawford High School. Freshman Kira Quan is feeling a mix of emotions. QUAN I’m pretty nervous because it’s like a new school and I don’t really know that much people, but I’m also super excited because I like socializing a lot. She’s also looking forward to all the elective classes she’ll get to take in high school. Principal Reashon Villery says there are several new offerings at Crawford this year, including an emergency medical technician program. VILLERY They will be well prepared to enter the medical field immediately after graduation, equipped with practical skills and knowledge. This school year starts a week earlier than last year, allowing the first semester to end before winter break. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

TAG: Other districts starting school this week include Grossmont Union High, Alpine Union, Oceanside Unified and Vista Unified.

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In 20-19, Renee Westbrook won best solo performer for her San Diego International Fringe Festival show ‘Shelter.’

Arts reporter Beth Accomando says you can head to L-A this Friday to catch a new performance of the compassionate exploration of homelessness.

Renée Westbrook found herself homeless in 2009. She took that experience and turned it into the play Shelter when she was in grad school at San Diego State University in 2016. Although she did not consider herself an actress, she took on the multiple characters in the play to create a deeply affecting one-woman show. RENEE WESTBROOK I wanted it to be about the various definitions of shelter. The different characters have their own meaning of what shelter means to Davina Grey, the main character. It's a home, a roof. To Laz-R-Us, us. It's nobody's going to ever hurt me again. That's his shelter, his karate. And just because I don't got no roof on my head, don't mean I got no shelter because this is my shelter, my karate, my shelter. And then, I got shelter on the inside. RENEE WESTBROOK Contemporary homelessness has a deep meaning for everyone because so many people are experiencing it now. I wanted to get out there the various definitions of what shelter is because we all have different ideas of what it should be. Westbrook will be performing her one-woman play Shelter this Friday at the Bel-Vue Community Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

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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 Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Tuesday.