What’s next for the Oceanside Pier?

Good Morning, I’m Emilyn Mohebbi, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, April 29th.

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What’s next for the Oceanside Pier, following last week’s fire.. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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The Marine killed last Tuesday during operations at Camp Pendleton was identified on Friday as a corporal from Texas.

23-year-old Miguel Maya was an aircraft avionics technician assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 303.

He joined the Marines in April 20-20.

The third Marine Aircraft Wing said Maya's death was the result of an "aviation ground mishap," but did not provide further details on the incident.

The Marines said the incident is under investigation.

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The county's regional transportation agency, SANDAG, is getting a new C-E-O.

The agency's board of directors on Friday, appointed Mario Orso to the job.

Orso has worked for Cal-trans for more than 32 years.

And is currently chief deputy director of the Cal-trans district office that covers San Diego.

The position became available after Hasan Ikhrata resigned last year.

SANDAG has more than 400 employees and an annual budget of 1-point-2 billion dollars.

It's responsible for developing a long-term transportation plan next year, that would significantly reduce driving and greenhouse gas emissions.

Orso’s three-year contract with SANDAG will begin June 17th.

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Today’s (Monday’s) weather will feel more like spring again.

Forecasters say this week, we can expect normal temperatures for this time of year.

The mornings will be cloudy, but it’ll get sunny as the day goes on.

Today’s temperatures in the inland areas will be in the low 70s, by the coast and in the mountains, temps will be in the low to mid 60s, and in the deserts, it’ll be in the low 90s.

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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 Oceanside Fire Department says it saved 90-percent of the Oceanside Pier, where a fire broke out late last week.

North County reporter Tania Thorne tells us about the damage, and what the city plans to do next.

Charred frames are all that remains of the buildings that once stood at the end of the Oceanside Pier. A fire broke out Thursday afternoon and burned throughout the night before firefighters were able to get full control of it. Congressman Mike Levin toured the site and offered his support. But before any federal aid can be given for a rebuild, the city of Oceanside must declare a local state of emergency. Before we can apply for FEMA, we have to have the local, then state, then federal, so thats what we need to do. Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez says she expects to hold a special city council meeting declaring the local emergency. A cause for the fire has not been determined.  The pier… and the beach area near the pier will be closed to the public until further notice. TT KPBS News. 

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The Fair Plan is known as California's home insurance of last resort.

But investigative reporter Scott Rodd says, the plan is now the only option for many homeowners… especially in rural communities, like those in east county.

So I’ll just come down in here…and I’ll just leave it there.” Paul Felber’s yard keeps him busy. “What I really wanted to focus on was trying to restore, as much as possible, a native plant community. There’s a certain zen ritual to it all. Yank out the non-native mustard and cat’s ear plants…Nurture the budding Penstemons and California lilacs. Come next year, do it all over again. Yet, Felber faces an added complication in his botanical quest. “I live in a high fire risk — in fact, I live in extreme high fire risk area.” That leaves the bespectacled, ponytailed retiree walking a tightrope — trying to foster Mother Nature’s indigenous beauty without building a tinder bed around his home. Felber and his wife cut back much of the vegetation bordering their house…and have spent more than $60,000 to harden it against wildfire. But insurers weren’t impressed. In the last 5 years, he was dropped by 2 different companies. “Nobody else was available to insure our property. So I ended up on the California FAIR Plan, and…I'm paying about $5,500.” That yearly payment is up from $1,500 just a few years ago. It’s an increasingly familiar story: Homeowners forced onto California’s safety net insurance plan…as private insurers continue to pull back in California. From 2018 and 2022, the number of FAIR Plan policies in San Diego County tripled to nearly 17,000, according to data from the Department of Insurance. Statewide, the number of policies recently eclipsed 375,000. Everyone agrees — from state regulators to insurance companies to consumers — that this trend is bad news. Even FAIR Plan officials say so. “There’s not a lot of options out there for people. And so, the FAIR Plan is quickly moving to be the first resort for a lot of people.” Victoria Roach is the president of the FAIR Plan. She declined multiple interview requests…but recently testified before a committee in the state Assembly. “It’s been a tremendous increase in a very short period of time.” State leaders mandated the creation of the FAIR Plan in the 1960s. It’s run by an association of insurance companies that do business in California. It’s supposed to be a backstop for people can’t find insurance. The plan is often costly and doesn’t provide comprehensive coverage. So the goal has always been to move people back into the traditional insurance market as quickly as possible. But these days, many homeowners find themselves stuck there for years. “The growing FAIR Plan is really what keeps me up at night.” Ricardo Lara is California’s Insurance Commissioner. Insurance companies are retreating in California…in large part due to the growing risks from climate change and wildfires.  All State and State Farm have stopped writing new policies. Farmers, meanwhile, set strict limits on the number of homes they’ll cover. And just last week, two smaller insurance companies announced they plan to leave California altogether. As a result … “It puts the highest risk properties into one pool…getting people off the FAIR Plan and back into a competitive market is one of my top goals.” Late last year, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order…urging Lara to address California’s growing insurance crisis. The Insurance Commissioner’s proposal is called the Sustainable Insurance Strategy. “It’s really the largest insurance reform in more than 30 years.” The plan would require insurance companies to write more policies in areas threatened by wildfire…which should help move people off the FAIR Plan. In exchange, the companies would have more leeway to justify rate-increases…such as using forward-looking catastrophe models to assess climate and fire risks. Insurance companies have expressed initial support for the proposal. Rex Frazier is president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California. “Companies do believe that the strategy would enable them to at least stabilize and, for some, grow again in California.” But consumer advocates are skeptical. Carmen Balber is executive director of Consumer Watchdog. “Many California homeowners are really hurting. They’re facing big rate increases or the threat of non-renewals from their insurance company.” Balber wants to see more concessions from insurers to protect consumers from unnecessary or excessive rate hikes. Lara aims to finalize the new regulations by the end of the year. Felber, the Alpine resident, says he’ll believe the change when he sees it. “It leaves me hanging out in the wind while, from my perspective, corporate America and government try to come to some agreement. Which usually, in my experience, takes a long time.” SOC.

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Carlsbad is looking to add a solar farm on city-owned land at its reservoir.

North County reporter Alexander Nguyen says, the project is in the beginning stages, but could bring new revenue for the city’s water district.

To do that, the city is looking to build a solar farm at the Maerkle Reservoir on the eastern end of the city. This is part of Carlsbad’s five-year plan for environmental sustainability. At a meeting earlier this month … the city council approved a feasibility study for a solar farm there. Jason Haber is the Intergovernmental Affairs Director for the city of Carlsbad. “Given the land that's available at the Merkle site, we're talking about roughly a 30 acre parcel that we think is available for potential solar and battery storage development, which preliminary estimates indicate could accommodate about 6 to 8 megawatts of solar capacity.” He says that’s enough to power 10-thousand homes. And because the land is owned by the Carlsbad Municipal Water District … Haber says the energy savings could offset water rates for Carlsbad residents. AN/KPBS.

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First responders like paramedics and E-M-Ts face constant stress and risk on the job.

Data show nearly 70-percent report not enough recovery time between traumatic calls.

Health reporter Heidi De Marco tells us about a new program that teaches them how to help each other through challenges.

And, a warning, this story discusses suicide.

Despite their training, first responders are never fully prepared for the trauma they face. These tragic events can take a toll on their mental health. Whitney Hagar has been a paramedic for 7 years. Every time she rushes to an emergency with sirens blaring, she's risking her own mental health. I did have somebody that I responded to that had committed suicide, and that one is something that's kind of stuck with me. That particular person was around a similar age that I was at the time…I know for some of my coworkers calls involving pediatrics can be especially difficult. A new program aims to tackle these challenges by offering psychological crisis intervention training to paramedics, EMTs, and dispatchers. Organizers say it's the first of its kind in the country because it combines a mental health professional with firsthand experience in emergency response. The goal is for participants to learn how to support each other. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

TAG: If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide, you can call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.

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Here in the county, the senior population is projected to grow by more than 21-percent in the next 10 years.

Reporter Heidi De Marco also brings us this story, about a group of seniors known as, elder orphans.

When Leon Christiansen was 65 years old, he suffered a brain bleed. For four days, he lay undiscovered in his apartment until concerned neighbors, noticing a smell, called for help. Rescuers thought he was dead and took him to the morgue before realizing he wasn’t. LEON “I wasn't dead, dead. I was unconscious, you know, barely existing dead. I still had a breath, but not much.” Christiansen’s story, although rare, is a sobering example of the social isolation Elder orphans face.  as they grow old without support. While it's hard to know the exact number of people who fit into this category, it's estimated that around 101,000 people over 65 live alone in San Diego County. That's about 21% of the senior population.  Christiansen never married or had children, although he said he came close a few times. It’s been more than 20 years since he’s seen any family. LEON: I still have my second, third cousins and such. But they live on the other side of the country. Last time I saw them was at my mother's funeral back in 2002, and I haven't heard from anyone since. A steep increase in loneliness and social isolation among older adults is tied to rising rates of childlessness, lower rates of marriage and the aging of the baby boomers says Dr. Ellen E. Lee  a clinician and researcher at UC San Diego Health.  LEE So when you get older, the risk factors for becoming more likely to be isolated or alone, are increased. Like you're more likely to lose family and friends and significant others as they pass away. You're more likely to become more frail and less mobile. So you're going to be more dependent on people with whose support you may or may not be able to access. So we do think that those rates are rising. How much is difficult to say. Lee says elder orphans often don't have people to help them with functional support, simple tasks that are harder to accomplish as we age. LEE So like people to help you get groceries, people to have to get medicines, people to drive you to the doctor versus even having, like an emotional, intimate relationship She says it is challenging for clinicians to identify these individuals, making it difficult to manage the complexities involved in delivering care. Especially if they don’t volunteer the information. After his accident, Christiansen was left mostly paralyzed. He still has use of his right hand, but needs a motorized wheelchair to get around. He’s also legally blind. He relies on caregiver support twice a week for a few hours. We have a full schedule today. Today, caregiver Patty Sterling is helping Leon with grooming, making meals and sorting medications. That one’s done. LEON They represent family to me. Christiansen lives at a senior residence in the East Village of San Diego. He said he’s not the only one living there alone. LEON Of the individuals I know here, at least six of them have no other immediate family except us. Research has linked social isolation and loneliness in older adults to higher risks for high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and cognitive decline. Paul Downey, CEO of Serving Seniors, a nonprofit in San Diego helping low-income seniors, works with many elder orphans. PAUL We see a significant number of people that live alone, that family either isn't there, they're estranged from, but they're by themselves and so they have to cope with everything. They don't have anybody to talk to. He says economic insecurity is another burden facing  elder orphans. 1 in 5 seniors are living on less than $1,500 a month in San Diego County. He hears about their financial struggles during mealtime conversations. DOWNEY Which means they are right on the cusp of homelessness. Experts say senior centers play a critical role in addressing this epidemic of loneliness by cultivating social connections. Whether it's a place to share a meal, take a fitness class or simply engage with others, senior centers can be a lifeline. Downey says the community also plays a vital role. DOWNEY If you have an older adult neighbor, go check on her, stop by and say hello. Bring them a cup of coffee. Go out of your way. For Christiansen, his brush with death has given him a new perspective on aging alone. LEON I’m quite happy being an orphan. Because I have survived death, I think every day is a good day. He keeps an open door policy so he can wave to friends as they pass by the hall. Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

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Repairs on the beleaguered U-S-S Boxer could take longer than Navy officials first said.

The ship’s deployment was delayed again this month.

Military reporter Andrew Dyer has the latest.

After initial estimates of two to three weeks, navy officials now aren’t saying when they expect the san diego-based boxer to resume its long delayed deployment. but one tells kpbs the ship won’t be leaving san diego for needed repairs to its rudder. this comes after a report last week that the service might send the ship north to portland, oregon because both san diego drydocks are currently occupied by other warships. the ship has seen   years of delays, brought on by a 200 million dollar  overhaul and upgrade in 2020. the amphibious assault ship, its crew of 1,000 sailors plus up to 2,000 marines left san diego for deployment on april 1st. but 10 days later, the ship turned around for home due to rudder damage. a navy official tells kpbs a decision on whether to repair the ship in a dry dock, or fix it in the water, is expected this week. andrew dyer, 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 Emilyn Mohebbi. It was fun chatting with you all on the podcast today while Debbie Cruz was off. I’ll be back to my normal San Diego News Now podcast producing duties again tomorrow when she’s back. Thanks for listening, I hope you have a great start to the week… Happy Monday!