San Diego’s wastewater surveillance program shut down

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, April 11th

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What happens now that San Diego’s wastewater surveillance program has ended? More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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San Diego County tied for the highest inflation rate in the nation in March.

It was 3 point 8 percent. Meanwhile, the national average was 2 point 4 percent.

So what caused San Diego’s high rates? The Union Tribune says it was the price of gasoline, fruits and vegetables, and alcoholic beverages.

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The operators of the Del Mar Fairgrounds are launching a public outreach campaign to gather input on the future of the fairgrounds.

The campaign is part of the operator’s efforts to create an updated masterplan. They’re calling the initiative Fairgrounds 20-50.

Over several months the outreach campaign will include a survey and public workshops held in each of the county's five supervisorial districts.

For more information or to take the survey, go to Del Mar fairgrounds dot com slash 20-50

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The federal government will begin enforcing the REAL I-D Act on May 7th. That means people 18 years and older who plan to travel domestically or enter certain federal facilities will have to have a REAL I-D.

Starting next week, four San Diego County D-M-V offices will open early to help people with REAL I-D appointments.

The D-M-V offices are in Clairemont, San Marcos, El Cajon, and Poway.

They’ll open one hour early on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

DMV spokesperson Jaime (Hi-may) Garza says the D-M-V recommends starting the REAL I-D application online at Real ID dot D-M-V dot C-A dot gov.

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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.

A wastewater program that made San Diego a leader in COVID-19 surveillance has paused operations.

With federal funding no longer available, health reporter Heidi de Marco says scientists are concerned about the resulting gaps in virus tracking.

At the height of the pandemic, San Diego’s wastewater program gave scientists a way to anticipate COVID-19 infections.

Dr. Louise Laurent directs UC San Diego’s EXCITE LAB. She worked on the project.

We learned that we could predict surges. We could detect variants as they reached our local population.

She says last week, the San Diego Epidemiology and Research for COVID Health program came to a halt. County officials say it’s a direct result of federal funding cuts.

UC San Diego’s Dr. Robert Schooley says gutting public health protections now is dangerous, especially with rising cases of measles and bird flu. 

Infectious diseases are here to stay, and it doesn’t make sense to take away our ability to combat them.

County officials say they will continue to monitor respiratory viruses through other methods. They plan to add in-house wastewater testing later this year.

Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

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“A bit of a reprieve.” That’s how one San Diego business leader describes President Trump’s decision to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.

Reporter John Carroll has more.

We first spoke to Hyspan President and CEO Eric Barnes back in early March, right before the first round of tariffs went into effect on Mexico and Canada. Hyspan makes metal products for industrial and commercial applications. While he says he’s grateful for the three-month pause, he has another problem to consider—China. The administration has now upped tariffs to 145 percent on Chinese goods. But Barnes says they could be changed again at any moment, and that lack of certainty, he says, is bad for business.

“They got to have predictability in the future. I think that's where the administration has just gone off the rails. They just don't understand that for some reason. I just don't know.”

We’ll continue to check in with Barnes as the tariff roller coaster rolls on. John Carroll, KPBS News.

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As part of our Public Matters initiative, we work with another nonprofit newsroom, inewsource.

You’ve probably heard their stories on this podcast.

Those stories are done with the help of a program called Documenters. It trains and pays community members to take notes at government meetings.

Public Matters reporter Amita Sharma spoke with two people, Grace Adams and Simon Mayeski, who do this work.

Amita Sharma: Grace, why did you become a documenter?

Grace Adams: Yeah, so I moved to San Diego last year and was really looking for ways to get involved in the community and learn more about the city and heard about the documenters program, and it seemed like an amazing opportunity to do just that. I'm also really passionate about local journalism, so it just kind of fit all of that.

AS: Simon, what made you decide to become a documenter?

Simon Mayeski: Over the last 20 years or so, I've gone to a lot of different city council meetings and other government organization meetings, and I recall there being a number of journalists there at all times, and now that's not true at all. And I thought we need to fill in that gap. And if Grace and I don't are not telling the stories, how are people going to know about what's going on?

AS: So, Grace, what are some topics at these meetings that have really stood out for you?

GA: Yeah, so I've had the opportunity to go to a couple of law enforcement related meetings. I previously went to the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board meeting. And I think the thing that really stood out to me is there were a lot of members of the public making comments and kind of sharing their stories of having family members or friends who have died in custody and how that's affected them and like the changes that they would like to see. So just being able to be there and document that and record that and pass it on to reporters was really, really valuable, I think.

AS: And Simon, what about you? What have you seen and heard at these meetings that sticks out?

SM: So one of the first meetings that I went to was in southeast San Diego right after the rains and the flooding. And this meeting was the community planning group. And people were there with fear and with anger. And there were three different city council districts are part of that area. So those folks were there, the mayor sent someone, and people were trying to find out what was going to go on with their. With their lives, because in a lot of cases, they were out of a place to live and they were not happy folks.

AS: Grace, how does your reporting from these meetings get fed to INEW source journalists and actually turn into stories? What's that process like?

GA: Yeah, that's a great question. So basically, Simon and I will go to the meetings, we'll take notes, whether that's like handwritten or on a computer. And then we have a form sort of like template that we put it into to make it a little bit easier to understand what happened. And then we write what we think the three most important things were that came out of the meeting. And some follow up questions that we have, and that's what gets passed along to reporters. And then from there they're able to kind of decide if there's something that they think is worth following up on and kind of just expands the coverage and the topics that they're able to be aware of.

AS: Simon, you're 73. Grace is 26. Each of you come from different generations. How do you think that influences the issues that spark your interest?

SM: I've been around for a while and I sometimes I see the same sort of issues coming up every so often with new, younger, old elected officials, sometimes meeting these for the first time and sometimes I want to grab them and say, you know, you're going to have this hit you over and over again. Take a look at something different. You younger folks, you know, you have different perspectives than we do, and I think in a lot of cases they're going to be better. And that's sort of where I come from.

AS: And Grace, what about you? Do you think your youth might be used as a filter for what sticks out for you at these meetings?

GA: Yeah, I think definitely. I think one of the top issues that I care about the most is climate change, which I think is true of a lot of people in my generation. And I think that the local response to climate change and being able to understand how different agencies are working to address it is really important.

That was Grace Adams and Simon Mayeski (Mah-es-key) speaking with Amita Sharma.

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The Old Globe is hosting the world premiere of Regency Girls. It’s a musical comedy about reproductive rights, set in the time of Jane Austen.

Arts reporter Beth Accomando speaks with the Emmy Award-winning book writers about using humor to tackle serious issues.

Regency Girls is a mashup of Bridesmaids and Pride and Prejudice as we follow four women on their carriage ride adventure in England. But at its core it is about reproductive rights. Book writer Gabrielle Allan began working on Regency Girls in 2018.

 And then Roe v Wade was overturned, and then it sadly became more relevant, and then really, sadly, continues to become more and more relevant.

That relevancy is not diminished by the fact that the story is set back in Jane Austen’s time or that it uses rollicking comedy to tackle serious issues, says fellow book writer Jennifer Crittenden.

Through our experience on Veep, it was really clear that we could say the most cutting, cruel, honest, horrible things. But if there's a veneer of comedy around it, people will laugh and listen and then go, Oh, my God, this is actually real. That's the gift of comedy.

You can unwrap this world premiere musical gift from the Old Globe Theatre now through May 11.

 Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

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That’s it for the podcast today. This week’s podcast was produced by Lara McCaffrey, Katie Hyson, Andrew Dyer and Brenden Tuccinardi. It’s edited by Brooke Ruth. 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.