San Diego News Fix

Latest Episodes:

SDPD, Sheriff respond to report showing racial discrepancies in stops | Lyndsay Winkley Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

A recent analysis of a year’s worth of stops by San Diego police and county sheriff’s deputies found that black people across the county are searched, arrested and subjected to force at higher rates than white people. The report also states that both the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department exhibit anti-Latino bias, anti-LGBTQ bias and bias against people with disabilities in their search practices. The report was disputed by law enforcement officials, who say the findings don’t match their own data and unfairly paint the actions of officers as discriminatory. The study, commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties at the beginning of the year, analyzed information collected under the state Racial and Identity Profiling Act. The 2015 law requires officers and deputies to gather data about the people they interact with in the field, including perceived age, perceived race, the reason for the stop and the result of the stop.

Special Episode: Duncan Hunter pleads guilty to misspending campaign finance funds Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, admitted his guilt Tuesday in a yearslong campaign-finance scandal and now awaits his sentence. The U.S. Marine veteran all but ended his political career during a brief hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan, admitting to a single count of conspiracy to convert campaign funds to personal use. When asked how he now pleaded, he said, “Guilty.” Hunter faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced March 17, but he is likely to receive much less time behind bars. Outside the courthouse, federal prosecutors said they opened their case after reading about Hunter’s campaign spending in a story in The San Diego Union-Tribune, and they specifically named reporter Morgan Cook.

Duncan Hunter changes his plea to guilty, will resign | Morgan Cook, Jeff McDonald, Michael Smolens Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

After years of denials and claims he was the target of a political witch hunt, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday morning to plead guilty in a sweeping campaign finance investigation. The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket Monday morning, then KUSI aired an interview with Hunter in which he said he will plead guilty to one of the 60 criminal charges against him. He suggested that he is likely to spend time in custody. “The plea I accepted is misuse of my own campaign funds, of which I pled guilty to only one count,” Hunter told the station. “I think it’s important that people know that I did make mistakes. I did not properly monitor or account for my campaign money. I justify my plea with the understanding that I am responsible for my own campaign and my own campaign money.”

Holiday shopping season has begun, here are some tips to staying local | Nina Garin Nov 30, 2019

Show notes

Pacific Magazine editor Nina Garin discusses the latest issue which focuses on local specialties that sell great gifts for the holidays.

Foster children no more, this Escondido family celebrates its first Thanksgiving | Peter Rowe Nov 29, 2019

Show notes

The holidays were the worst. That’s not because Marissa and Chris Heintschel hated Thanksgiving or Christmas — far from it. Both raised in large Catholic families, they cherish having a full house, echoing with relatives’s chatter and children’s laughter, the air scented with the rich aromas of turkey and pie. Since 2016, though, these celebrations have had a desperate undertone. Each year, Chris would tell Marissa the same thing: “This is our last holiday with them. Let’s make it their best.” Three years ago, the Escondido couple became foster parents to two sisters suffering from physical abuse, malnutrition and a host of medical issues. Annalee, then 2, was coughing and sniffling when the Heintschels took her home. Her 9-month-old sister, Valerie, needed another five days in Rady Children’s Hospital. Burning with a 105-degree fever and only 12 pounds, the infant hadn’t the strength to lift her head. When the Heintschels finally retrieved her from the hospital, the foster mother tried to hug the baby. “She went stiff as a board,” Marissa said, “like she’d never been touched before.”

Caregiver SD: Tips to ensure a successful holiday season | Juliet Hendrix, Lauren Mapp Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

The holiday season is stressful enough, add on the responsibilities of caregiving, and this time of year can be stressful. Host Daniel Wheaton interviews Juliet Hendrix, editor of Caregiver SD, and Lauren Mapp, a reporter for the site about how to manage the needs of those you're providing care to with the demands of the holidays.

No Trident Review, Navy Secretary leaves, is this the end of the Gallagher saga? | Andrew Dyer Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

A crisis at the top of military leadership in the handling of a high-profile war crimes case has raised questions in the San Diego military community about the military justice system and what good order and discipline looks like. President Donald Trump’s recent interventions in several military justice cases, including that of San Diego-based Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s, have military leaders debating whether the moves undermine the authority of military commanders to instill good order and discipline in the ranks. Some Navy leaders in San Diego said they are flummoxed by Trump’s interventions and their recent fallout, including the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer over the weekend. “He’s hammering away at the foundation of the military — good order and discipline,” said a senior San Diego Navy official not authorized to comment. “The president essentially said he doesn’t trust one of his admirals’ judgment. Guys at my level are literally just throwing up their hands.”

In this fishing tournament, anglers gamble for massive payouts | Bryce Miller Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

As the crew of the Stella June dug into plates of Asian fusion at the Chubby Noodle on sleepy Paseo del la Marina, captain Evan Salvay ran fingers through hair shaped by a day’s worth of salt water, wind, broiling sun and spiking anxiety. The 27-year-old had ridden both sides of the exhilarating and sometimes cruel waves at the Bisbee’s Black and Blue marlin tournament, the richest sportfishing chase on the planet. A year ago, a fish the part-time Point Loma and Huntington Beach resident landed translated to just over $3 million. Two years ago, a potential $1 million catch was edged by 14 pounds as the paycheck plummeted … to $7,020. In this year’s tournament, the Stella June caught a 466-pound black marlin that held up as the day’s best for hours on end. Two and a half blocks away, the only remaining fish to weigh was nearing the dock. The estimated payout for the day’s biggest catch ebbed around $1.23 million. The glazed ribs? The salt and pepper shrimp? The thought of food nauseated Salvay. “I can’t eat, dude,” he said.

Sighting of endangered vaquita gives scientists hope | Deborah Brennan Nov 23, 2019

Show notes

Last month marine scientists set out in the Gulf of California looking for vaquita porpoises, fearing that they could be extinct, but instead spotted a number of them, including mothers with calves

UCSD researchers begin expedition for ancient ice | Joshua Emerson Smith Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

It’s summer in Antarctica, and scientists from all around the world are flying back to research stations on the continent as part of a now years-long race to uncover world’s oldest ice and better predict planetary warming, sea level rise and more. Trapped in the ancient glaciers are tiny air bubbles — time capsules documenting changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean temperatures over hundreds of thousands of years. If a rare sample of undisturbed ice can be located and ice-core samples drilled out, the results could be a scientific timeline of climate change dating back more than a million years.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected