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Returned Part II: Who gets asylum? | Kate Morrissey Aug 24, 2020

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The second part in series that takes a deep dive into the U.S. asylum system to help readers understand what the system was meant to do, how it previously functioned and what it has become. Immigration reporter Kate Morrissey discusses the project.

The series: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/returned

The simulation: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2020-08-23/asylum-system-interactive-experience

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Sunday listen: A discussion of race and equity with Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngelo and Wesley Lowery Aug 23, 2020

Show notes

The San Diego Union-Tribune partnered with the National Conflict Resolution Center to hold a discussion on race and equity.

It’s part of the NCRC's “A Path Forward” series, and it featured three voices that have been driving the conversation following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests.

The panel includes: Ibram X. Kendi, author of "How to be an Antiracist". Robin DiAngelo, author of "White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism", and Wesley Lowery, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who came to prominence following his coverage of Ferguson, Mo. for the Washington Post.

Housing prices go through the roof I Phillip Molnar Aug 21, 2020

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Home prices in San Diego hit an all-time high last month. The median price tag for a home in July: $634,000. That’s a whopping 9 percent jump over this time last year. That trend extends across much of Southern California, as homes for sale have all but evaporated from the market.

Some people were hoping the pandemic would be a good time to invest. As it turns out, homeowners aren't selling. But will it last? Or is this just a COVID-induced housing bubble.

Restaurants struggle to deal with pandemic-based Yelp complaints | Pam Kragen Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Over the past decade, North County restaurant owners Roddy and Aaron Browning have looked upon Yelp, the high-profile crowd-sourced reviews platform, as something of a necessary evil. A diner's positive 5-star review will make their day, but a negative 1- or 2-star review will ruin their week. But since the pandemic began in March, the Brownings and many other local restaurateurs say recent bad reviews on Yelp — many of them for county-ordered safety and service requirements beyond their control — are making the struggle to survive even harder. Some owners' classy, clever and angry written responses to recent low-starred reviews have gone viral. Meanwhile, Yelp says it has stepped up efforts to remove unfair reviews and it is encouraging its diner-members to show compassion for restaurant owners before they push the publish button.

We're off the state's COVID-19 watch list! What changes? Nothing. (At least not now) | Paul Sisson Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

As expected, state officials announced that they removed San Diego County from the state’s COVID-19 watchlist Tuesday, a move that was telegraphed one day earlier by local leaders.

The action, which came as local doctors were adjusting to new testing guidance from the county, starts a 14-day countdown during which the region must avoid crossing any of six thresholds that, if they persisted for three days in a row, would land the region back on the list.

Provided San Diego’s daily COVID-19 numbers remain below state-set maximums for two weeks, K-12 schools would be able to resume in-person instruction at the discretion of local school boards.

Follow our COVID-19 tracker: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/tracking-coronavirus-cases-san-diego-county

Why rolling blackouts are back | Rob Nikolewski, Gary Robbins Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

The bad old days — and nights — of rotating power outages in California are back for the first time in nearly 20 years. And they could be back in a big way for the next few days.

But unlike 2001 when market manipulation from rogue entities like Enron were at the root of rolling blackouts, grid operators blame these outages on a combination of reasons that include finding sources to back up energy sources that compose the current grid in the state and a heatwave that not only affected all of California but its neighboring states as well.

“We are scouring every corner of our world to find additional load reductions and generation,” said Steve Berberich, the CEO of the California Independent System Operator, known as CAISO for short. The scale of the outages statewide could be in the millions, Berberich acknowledged.

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The San Diego Festival of Books is right around the corner. Check out the details here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdfestivalofbooks

Conspiracy theories, racism rampant in Defend East County group | Andrew Dyer Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

A Facebook group that organized after a Black Lives Matter protest in La Mesa turned destructive has ballooned to more than 20,000 members.

Called Defend East County, it has become an active online community of people who say they want to protect their cities, but it’s also a place where conspiracy theories, racist banter and calls for violence persist.

Recently, videos of self-styled “patriots” in other cities punching and kicking Black Lives Matter protesters received hundreds of “likes” on the Defend East County page, as did a video of a car running over protesters.

Some people affiliated with this and other East County community Facebook groups have counterprotested at area Black Lives Matter marches and, in at least five recent cases, have engaged in verbal and physical altercations. The latest verbal conflict occurred Tuesday at a march in La Mesa.

Rents fall during the pandemic I Phillip Molnar Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

San Diego rents are falling for the first time since the Great Recession.The average rent throughout the region was about $1,850 between April and June.That’s less than a percentage point decrease over the previous quarter, but the downward trend is notable.Rents in San Diego have been on a seemingly unstoppable upward climb in recent years.Now COVID-19 has, at least for now, changed that.

Criminally charged gym owner rallies Ramona against ‘COVID-19 police’ | Alex Riggins Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

In the days after he became the first San Diego County business owner criminally charged for defying coronavirus-related health orders, Ramona gym owner Peter San Nicolas took to Facebook to decry the “Covid police” treating business owners “like common criminals.”

On Tuesday night, San Nicolas held an informal town hall-style meeting outside the Ramona Fitness Center for himself and other business owners to voice their frustrations with state and local shutdown orders.

The meeting came eight days after San Nicolas learned that San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan had charged him with five misdemeanors — each punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000 — for refusing to shut down his gym.

Enforcement of the COVID-19 public health order is ramping up | Brittany Meiling, Morgan Cook Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

For months, authorities have treated the Public Health Order with a somewhat lasseiz-faire attitude.

While some egregious violations have been prosecuted, county leaders now plan a more intense crackdown, just as quarantine fatigue and economic stress are deepening.

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