San Diego News Fix

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New fencing coming to railroad tracks, despite Del Mar's opposition | Phil Diehl Oct 28, 2020

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North County Transit District plans to install fences along miles of railroad track in three coastal cities by the end of this year, an idea many residents, especially in Del Mar, have fought for years.

The transit district, in a report released this month, said the 6-foot-tall, chain-link fence will be placed in the areas where people most frequently trespass on the track right-of-way, resulting in death or injury, damage to the railroad system and delays in service.

Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/story/2020-10-18/residents-fight-plan-to-fence-coastal-railroad-tracks

How to dismantle a nuclear power plant | Rob Nikolewski Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

They are perhaps the most distinctive features of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station — the pair of containment domes from Units 2 and 3, rising nearly 200 feet above the ground on the northern edge of San Diego County that every motorist sees on the drive along Interstate 5.

But in about six years, the twin domes will be gone — obliterated — provided the schedule holds true for dismantling the now-shuttered plant, known as SONGS

An update on COVID-19 vaccine trials| Jonathan Wosen Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

That urgent desire for a sense of safety and a return to normalcy has fueled an unprecedented search for a vaccine against the worst pandemic humanity has faced in a century.

CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna, two of the vaccine developers furthest along in that search, have said they could request emergency-use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccines by late November and December, respectively, depending on results from trials that have enrolled tens of thousands of volunteers (including San Diegans).

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar said there could be enough doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for those most vulnerable to the disease by the end of 2020, with enough vaccine for all Americans by early April.

Also: https://go.sandiegouniontribune.com/trials-of-the-century/p/1

Special Election Episode: Key races part II Oct 24, 2020

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On the latest special election episode, Daniel Wheaton and Micheal Smolens discuss key races in the city of San Diego: mayor, city council, Measures B and E.

Visit our election dashboard: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/2020-election-dashboard-san-diego

Vista schools reopen | Deborah Sullivan Brennan Oct 23, 2020

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Nearly 10,000 students returned to class in person this week at Vista Unified School District as campuses reopened after more than a half-year of remote learning. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/vista/story/2020-10-22/with-face-masks-and-hepa-filters-vista-students-return-to-school

California theme parks threaten legal action over COVID rules | Lori Weisberg Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

Tensions build as theme parks, from Disneyland to Legoland, push to reopen after being closed seven months because of the coronavirus pandemic

Baseball at 3:10 in Yuma? Youth sports head to Arizona to skirt COVID rules | Mark Zeigler Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

Frustrated with the state of COVID-19 restrictions in California, parents have taken to bringing their children to sporting tournaments in Arizona

That state has a more lax approach to such gatherings.

Citing comparatively low transmission rates among athletes and at outdoor gatherings, many San Diego parents have decided to let their children play.

California is also losing much-needed revenue from letting these games slip out of state, something that league leaders hope will make the state reconsider the rules.

Breaking down San Diego's Measure E | Jennifer Van Grove Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

The freeway-adjacent, mostly industrial town is what supporters of a November initiative, Measure E, view as a classic fixer-upper, meaning with ample investment it could be transformed into a community where people want to live and recreate. Yet the area’s proximity to the water is a quality that makes it attractive to would-be investors while simultaneously inhibiting their interest. That’s because the Midway District, either accidentally or intentionally depending on who you ask, finds itself in San Diego’s coastal zone, subject to a 30-foot building height limit.

Newly released emails detail origin of 101 Ash St. sale | Jeff McDonald Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

Mayor Kevin Faulconer began meeting with the former owners of the high rise at 101 Ash Street in 2014, a full year before Sempra Energy vacated the property, according to a new cache of emails released by the city under the California Public Records Act.

The communications also show the building’s previous owners, Sandor Shapery and Douglas Manchester, enjoyed access to the mayor and his senior aides, allowing them to market their building to city officials.

“Does the shortened 25-year lease option improve the look of the proposal?” Shapery representative Richard Ledford wrote to Faulconer’s then chief of staff, Stephen Puetz, in July 2014. “May we set that second meeting with the mayor on this issue?”

Taken together, the 80-plus pages of emails show more clearly how the city came to enter what is now considered one of the worst land deals in the history of San Diego governance.

Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2020-10-19/newly-released-emails-show-faulconer-top-aides-overruled-city-real-estate-director-on-ash-street-property

Special Election Episode: Key races Part I Oct 17, 2020

Show notes

On this special election episode of San Diego News Fix, we break down key Congressional races, the County Board of Supervisors and a housing measure in Santee.

Visit our elections dashboard: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/2020-election-dashboard-san-diego

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