Why a county supervisor wants to close the border

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, October 27th.

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Why a county supervisor wants to close the border. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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U-S News and World Report ranks San Diego as the most expensive city in the country.

High housing costs are the big factor in the ranking, with the median house price at about a million dollars.

Frank Powell is the president of the San Diego Association of REALTORS.

He says there’s not a lot of room to build new properties.

“We have on the west we have the ocean, on the south we have Mexico, on the north we have Camp Pendleton and on the east we have mountains.”  

The U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics says San Diego’s 4-point-7-percent overall inflation rate was a full point higher than the national rate.

Over the last year, the cost of food has gone up by 3-percent, and energy prices are up nearly 7-percent.

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There were 11 cases of M-pox reported in the county this month.

That’s up from three confirmed cases last month.

M-pox infections usually cause rashes or sores and in some cases, flu-like symptoms before the rash or sores appear.

During last summer's outbreak, M-pox mostly affected the L-G-B-T-Q-plus community, but anyone can get M-pox.

County health officials are urging people to get vaccinated against it.

The vaccines are free, and are available through healthcare providers and public health clinics.

You can call 2-1-1 for more info.

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The Registrar of Voters office is reminding people living in District 4, Chula Vista and the Fallbrook Public Utility or Rainbow Municipal Water Districts, that you have just over one week to cast your ballot for the upcoming special election.

You can send it in by mail, drop it off at one of the Registrar’s official ballot drop boxes, or in person at the Registrar’s office from 8 in the morning to 5 p-m on weekdays.

And starting tomorrow, more vote centers will open for early voting.

The special election is on Tuesday, November 7th.

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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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County Supervisor Jim Desmond wants to close the border.

He says Hamas fighters could enter the country illegally.

But border reporter Gustavo Solis talked to Middle East experts who say those concerns are preposterous, unhinged and irresponsible.

“It’s time to close the border to new immigration.” Supervisor Desmond made this proclamation because of a leaked memo from Customs and Border Protection. The memo says border agents could encounter foreign fighters at the southern border. But CBP wouldn’t confirm the authenticity of the memo or comment on it. In fact, CBP officials say there is no indication of Hamas terrorists trying to enter the country illegally. “This is not just alarmist politicians here.” But experts who study the Middle East say alarmist is exactly what Desmond and other Republican politicians are. Michael Provence is a professor of Middle Eastern History at UC San Diego. “It’s not based on any kind of even basic knowledge of the facts of the situation. If a person in Gaza wanted to get to the southern border, there is no U.S. Consulate, they couldn’t get out of Gaza, it’s completely ringed in by the Israelis.” Provence says a questionable leaked memo is not sufficient evidence for this level of concern. “We didn’t hear it from the FBI, we didn’t hear it from the state department, we heard it from a handful of mostly conservative local political officials who have no knowledge of the Middle East.” Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.

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The urgent need to find an end to homelessness had state and local leaders under the same roof yesterday.

They gathered at the Carlsbad Library to learn about what is being done, the barriers being faced and discuss solutions.

North County reporter Tania Thorne tells us about the discussion.

Senator Catherine Blakespear called on all local leaders and service providers to attend a summit on ending homelessness on Thursday. ‘we recognize this is a problem, what can we do at every level of government?’ so federal, state, county, local and the non profit and the philanthropic sectors. All of those sectors, working together, to try to actually reduce homelessness to functional zero. Blakespear said that should be the goal, finding an end to homelessness. But for that to happen, all of the levels involved in solving homelessness must engage together. In a perfect world… Blakespear said she would like to see homeless serving housing matching the point in time count data collected every year. That would mean enough housing for the 10,263 people counted in this year's point in time count. A 20% jump from 20-22. TT KPBS News. 

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California utility regulators are looking ahead to the winter to see if natural gas prices will spike like they did last year.

Environment reporter Erik Anderson has details.

Utility officials say the early outlook for this winter is much more positive than it was last year.  Customer bills soared in January when natural gas prices climbed into record territory.  Southern California Gas official Ray Sasaki says unusually cold weather conspired with pipeline repairs and low inventories to push prices up.  He says the picture is different this year. “Currently there’s much more supply availability in the west compared to last year.  Most of the pipeline outages have been resolved and that’s a huge deal especially with the return of El Paso line 2000.” An El Nino is expected to influence California’s weather this year, but it's not clear if that’ll mean a colder winter. Erik Anderson KPBS News.

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Leaders of L-G-B-T-Q Pride organizations from around the globe are in San Diego right now, for an event called Interpride.

Reporter John Carroll listened in on a meeting where senior members of the community talked about how to help L-G-B-T-Q plus seniors near and far.

This is the 41st annual meeting of interpride, shorthand for international pride.  at downtown’s westin gaslamp hotel, hundreds of activists are talking about a whole host of issues important to the lgbtq community.  one breakout session featured seniors talking about how to help their fellow seniors.  mickey heller is with brooklyn pride.  he says some issues like social security are shared with straight counterparts.  but others are unique to lgbtq seniors. “we were talking here today about some who are able to go into senior communities where they still don’t want to come out of the closet because they’re afraid of what might happen.  things have changed a lot over the years, but those fears are still instilled into many of us.” interpride wraps up on sunday.  then the 381 delegates will return to their communities with new energy and new ideas in the ongoing struggle for equality.  jc, kpbs news.

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Coming up.... We look ahead to what’s going on this weekend in the arts. We’ll have that and more, just after the break.

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A lot of San Diegans can recall the closing of the Ken Cinema, but fewer may remember the demise of another iconic film venue.

The Unicorn Cinema ran eclectic film programs in the 60s and 70s.

The La Jolla Historical Society pays tribute to the cinema and its adjoining bookstore in a new exhibit called Tigers, Unicorns and Puppy Dog Tales.

Arts reporter Beth Accomando has this look back on the Unicorn Cinema.

Sometimes it is not just the movies we see but where we see them that impacts us. JOHN RIPPO … Going to the Unicorn was always a treat. We would wander into this little bookstore… go to the back of the store to buy your ticket and usually a mug of tea and a bag of popcorn. And from there you'd be permitted to enter this long, cinder block, dark movie theater. It was quite small, and once settled in, all eyes would be on the small screen at the end of the hall, and the flickers would come on. John Rippo was a teenager going to the Unicorn Cinema and its adjacent Mithras Bookstore in the 70s. JOHN RIPPO …The Unicorn functioned almost like a kind of underground thing. You had to be among the cool kids to even know about it. And it was kind of a gift that you bestowed on your friends. That gift is being celebrated by the La Jolla Historical Society with its exhibit Tigers, Unicorns, and Puppy Dog Tales. The exhibit is curated by Carol Olten, who was the film critic at the San Diego Union when the Unicorn closed in 1982. CAROL OLTEN I always like to say I really cried in print because it was a very sad time for anybody who really loved film and movies. CHRISTOPHER CANOLE I was the last employee of the Mithras books, Unicorn cinema. So I turned the key on the final night, which was kind of a sad situation. Christopher Canole also recalls. CHRISTOPHER CANOLE …That's where I was really first exposed to the Samurai cinema. Many filmgoers got their first exposure to foreign movies at the Unicorn, says Olten as she sits in one of a pair of theater seats rescued from the cinema. CAROL OLTEN It was a place that you saw French New Wave. You saw German New Wave. You saw stuff from the National Film Board of Canada. JIM CALL …I’m Jim Call… The Unicorn Theater is where I learned to love foreign film… Some of the movies got out after the busses ran. So there were two things, only two things that I wanted to do after the busses ran, and that was the midnight movies at the Academy and the Unicorn Theater. And so I bought a motorcycle expressly to come to the Unicorn. Benjamin Darling’s father Harold and step mother Sandra ran the cinema and the Mithras Bookstore. BENJAMIN DARLING The Unicorn was my babysitter because if my parents were busy. They would stick me in “Yojimbo,” or “Shoot the Piano Player.” Sandra Darling remembers that her husband did a magnificent job of programming. SANDRA DARLING He got things from everywhere, I don't know where… we tried, like marathons, where we run something all night…Jackie Estrada remembers those marathons. JACKIE ESTRADA … You just get one photo ID admission thing that you would wear so you could come and go. You'd go home, take a nap, come back. Estrada also remembers nodding off when “Lawrence of Arabia” played in the middle of the night and she still has some of the gorgeous programs that Sandra  designed for the cinema and that now line the walls of the exhibit. BENJAMIN DARLING That's one of the things I really loved about seeing that show, is the sense of creative freedom…They just did any old crazy thing that came to their mind, which I love. Benjamin recalls that even the bookstore floor was an act of creativity and an invitation to engage patrons. BENJAMIN DARLING …They didn't have any money, so they threw a bunch of old paper ephemera on the floor and lacquered it. And so it was this insane collage on the floor which was done out of desperation but it actually kind of turned into a real thing. To this day I remember sitting on that floor exploring the collage and then watching films by Bergman and Kurosawa long before I was able to appreciate them. But I’m sure the Unicorn’s joyous reverence for cinema contributed to my lifelong love of movies. Beth Accomando, KPBS News. 

TAG: Tigers, Unicorns and Puppy Dog Tales runs through January at the La Jolla Historical Society.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. they’re holding an event called Vamping With Vampires.

They’ll play a curated selection of film clips from a dozen vampire movies.

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And before you go… arts editor and producer Julia Dixon Evans has some other suggestions for arts events to check out this weekend.

She shared the details with my colleague Andrew Bracken.

Let's see what's going on in the visual art world. A new exhibit is opening at San Diego Museum of Art called Korea in Color. What can you tell us about this exhibit.

Just in time for Halloween… Local contemporary dance company The Rosin Box Project brings back its annual Ghost Light Masquerade production this weekend. Sounds kinda spooky... Tell us more about that.

Finally, there's a couple of fall-themed events at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park this weekend… and they are both free… 

TAG: That was KPBS arts editor and producer Julia Dixon Evans, speaking with KPBS Midday Edition producer, Andrew Bracken. 

You can find details on these and more arts events, at KPBS dot ORG slash ARTS.

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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Producer Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again on Monday for the day’s top stories, plus, we learn about two sculptures in Imperial Beach, both inspired by the city's surf culture. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.