Title 42 continues
Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Monday, May 23rd>>>>
Title 42 continues
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
Today is your last day to register to vote if you want to vote by mail in the june 7th primary election.
You will need to register to vote if you are not already registered in San Diego county, if you recently moved, or if you've changed your name.
You can go to SD-VOTE-DOT-COM to do so.
If you miss today’s deadline, you’ll have to go to the registrar’s office in kearny mesa, or a vote center starting this saturday.
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The San Diego City Council today will take up the question of how to redevelop the Sports Arena property in the Midway District.
Five teams are competing for the project and city staffers want to narrow it down to three.
They say the two proposals on the chopping block aren't competitive in terms of how much affordable housing they include.
Today's vote will decide if the City Council agrees — or if it wants a deeper analysis of all five proposals.
The Sports Arena and the surrounding land total about 48 acres.
City officials see it as an opportunity to build desperately needed housing, and to spark a broader revitalization of the blighted Midway District.
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The number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in San Diego County increased by nine, to a total of 142.
That’s according to the latest state data released sunday.
The county has been seeing an increase in cases, according to the county health and human services agency.
On Thursday the agency reported more than 1500 cases, the most since early february.
A total of more than 7-thousand cases were reported last week, that’s a 40 percent increase from the week before.
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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 federal judge in Louisiana blocked the Biden administration from ending a controversial pandemic era asylum restriction program called Title 42.
The judge’s decision came days before the program was scheduled to end.
KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis has more.
Title 42 allows border officials to turn away asylum seekers at the border without allowing them to see a judge first. It has been used to turn vulnerable migrants away from the U.S. nearly two million times.
Immigration advocates and migrants called the judge’s decision a big loss.
“It’s a gut punch”
That was Melissa Crow. Director of Litigation with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. She says Friday’s ruling will continue to put migrants at risk.
“We think the decision is misguided, it will perpetuate an illegal and racist policy, and continue to put a lot of vulnerable people’s lives in danger.”
Title 42 is the second Trump-era asylum policy that President Joe Biden has been unable to terminate. The first policy, known as Remain in Mexico, forces asylum seekers to live in Mexico while their cases are adjudicated.
A federal judge also prevented the Biden administration from ending that program.
In Friday’s decision, the judge said the Biden administration failed to go through the required notice and comment process before terminating Title 42.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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When National Guard members and reservists are called into military service, a federal law is supposed to preserve their civilian jobs. It's intended to protect them from being fired or losing benefits while they're away. And it requires employers to accommodate service-related disabilities.
But in some places, veterans who work for state governments can't access those protections - and that's the basis for a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carson Frame reports for the American Homefront Project.
TAG: That report was produced by the american homefront project, a public media collaboration that reports on american military life and veterans. funding comes from the corporation for public broadcasting.
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Coming up....Discovering a living fossil. We’ll have more on that story and more, next, just after the break.
Chula Vista’s Measure P sales tax raises about $25 million a year. The money goes to repairing roads, maintaining infrastructure, and new building projects.
But KPBS reporter Gustavo Solis says the city doesn’t have a plan for when the tax measure expires in five years.
Chula Vista voters approved Measure P in 2017. It was pitched as a 10-year sales tax increase to pay for long-neglected infrastructure projects.
When it expires in 2027, City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Jill Galvez says the city will still have a lot of infrastructure projects to tackle.
“We’re going to see that the eastern parts of Chula Vista start to age, you know Rancho del Rey neighborhood was built in the 80s, Eastlake was built in the late 80s. That infrastructure is also aging.”
Rudy Ramirez is a former City Councilman who is also running for mayor.
He says the city needs to either find a way to increase its tax revenues or ask voters to renew Measure P.
“If we’re not successful at generating the economic development over the next four years, then it’ll be necessary to either stop and it will be back to the days of deferred maintenance and a lot of infrastructure projects are not going to get done, or the taxpayer may want another opportunity to bring that back.”
Chula Vista has the highest sales taxes rates in the county.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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San Diego State biologists have discovered a new species of lampshade spider that one calls “a living fossil.”
KPBS science and technology reporter Thomas Fudge has more.
The spider was discovered in the caves and canyons of the southern Sierras, near Bakersfield, and was given the name Hypochilus Xomote. SDSU biology professor Marshall Hedin says the xomote was found to be a new species, after they compared its genes to known spider genomes. Hedin says the spider dates back to the time of the dinosaurs and its morphology, or appearance, has changed very little.
“Through that kind of expanse of time, the morphology has stayed in the same place, so it’s very much like a living fossil.”
The spider and others in its genus spin webs on vertical rock walls in the shape of a lampshade. Hedin says the xomote resembles a cellar spider, which you may find in your house. Thomas Fudge, 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 Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
