San Diego News Fix

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Why SDSU West Is Taking So Long To Start | Jennifer Van Grove Oct 09, 2019

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Almost a year ago, San Diego voters approved Measure G, allowing for the sale of the former Qualcomm stadium site to San Diego State University. Plans for an expanded campus are underway, but the sale of the land to the university hasn’t been completed yet. The City and the University have several disagreements on the site, something that could delay the project.

Why Ocean Beach's Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey Is In Legal Crosshairs | Kristina Davis Oct 08, 2019

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Exuding the bohemian irreverence of its Ocean Beach roots, Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey comes with its own warning: “a night with Skrewball is bound to get a little nutty.” The same could be said for the legal battle being waged over ownership of the locally crafted spirit. Created by husband-and-wife team Steve and Brittany Yeng, Skrewball is based on a signature peanut butter-and-whiskey shot that Steve concocted after opening his first restaurant, OB Noodle House. The shot was so popular that the couple decided to bottle it. But three people — including former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher David “Boomer” Wells and local television host Noah Tafolla — have filed lawsuits in San Diego Superior Court alleging they were all promised a stake in the venture. The Yengs, in turn, have filed a cross-complaint of their own against Tafolla, calling him a “parasitic individual” who exploited his relationship with the couple to enrich himself. Story: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2019-10-06/skrewball-whiskey-lawsuits-yeng-wells-tafolla

Border Dispatch: How Fixers Help Make Tijuana News Happen | Gustavo Solis Oct 07, 2019

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Whenever the foreign press drops in to cover a big international story — be it a natural disaster in Southeast Asia, a civil war in Africa, or a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border — they rely on local guides to show them around town, arrange interviews, scout locations, serve as translators, and sometimes even negotiate interview terms with local cartel bosses. These local guides are referred to as “fixers.” Whenever the BBC, CNN, New York Times, or pretty much any big news organization comes to Tijuana, they call local fixers.

Why Downtown San Diego's Public Restrooms Are Bleak | Peter Rowe Oct 04, 2019

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n life, the only certainties are death, taxes and the fact that — often at an inconvenient, gut-clenching moment — everyone needs a place to do their business. "Sir, relax," Herbert Bridges told a pedestrian racing to a public restroom outside San Diego City Hall. The security guard unlocked a steel door, revealing a cinder block chamber with a stainless steel commode, urinal and sink. Brown stains marked the walls, litter and dark patches the floor. "Everybody's panicked," Bridges commented, "but I got it under control. "When it comes to public restrooms, critics insist, San Diego cannot say the same. In 2005 and again in 2015, San Diego County's grand jury urged more public bathrooms downtown. Similar pleas came from the East Village Redevelopment Homeless Advisory Committee (2001), the San Diego Partnership's Clean & Safe Program (2005) and the Girls Think Tank (2009). This shortage was cited as a factor behind 2017's hepatitis A epidemic. During that crisis, the city installed dozens of portable restrooms and outdoor washing stations. Yet relief was only temporary.

Poll: Republicans Split On Who To Support In CA-50 Michael Smolens Oct 03, 2019

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A new poll of likely voters in the crowded and widely watched 50th Congressional District race shows indicted incumbent Duncan Hunter facing an uphill climb to re-election, trailing three candidates. In the poll, Hunter, with 11 percent of the vote, is trailing GOP opponents Carl DeMaio (20 percent) and Darrell Issa (16 percent) while lone Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who narrowly lost to Hunter a year ago, leads with 31 percent. State Sen. Brian Jones polled at 4 percent. Then came two independents, Helen Horvath and David Edick Jr., with 2 percent and 1 percent respectively. Fifteen percent of the voters were undecided.

CalFire Begins Fight Against Invasive Grasses | Joshua Emerson Smith Oct 02, 2019

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Highly flammable nonnative plants have increasingly played a major role in Southern California’s struggles with wildfire — providing kindling along roadsides and around homes that turn sparks into menacing backcountry blazes. San Diego firefighting officials plan to dramatically ramp up efforts to rip out vegetation, both native and invasive, surrounding remote communities as part of a statewide campaign to prevent tragedies such as the Camp Fire in Paradise. However, environmental groups and scientists are now warning that brush-removal projects may actually exacerbate the risk of fire by inadvertently helping to spread invasive grasses, such as black mustard, star thistle and ripgut bromus. San Diego County’s ambitious goal is to clear 5,000 acres a year around the county using prescribed burns and chainsaws, while also ramping up maintenance of trails and remote roads accessed by firetrucks. Critics say the plan is ill-conceived and seeks to bypass environmental reviews that could force authorities to address the spread of invasive plants. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/story/2019-09-28/will-cal-fires-plan-to-rip-out-vegetation-in-san-diego-lead-to-an-explosion-in-flammable-invasive-grasses

Border Dispatch: 25 Years Later, How Operation Gatekeeper Changed The Border | Kristina Davis Oct 01, 2019

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Operation Gatekeeper was unveiled on Oct. 1, 1994. The strategy was to deter migrants from illegally crossing in the first place — and, for those who remained undeterred, to encourage them to cross in more isolated wilderness areas to the east, where they could be more easily captured. Twenty-five years later, Operation Gatekeeper is still viewed as a major turning point in the effort to control the border. It is considered both a success and a failure, depending on whom you ask. One thing is certain: Operation Gatekeeper set in motion a process that significantly altered the landscape of the U.S.-Mexico border and transformed San Diego into one of the most heavily fortified international boundaries in the nation. It also came with a human toll, as migration shifted to the east.

Border Dispatch: This Veteran Is Trying to Unite A Separated Family | Gustavo Solis, Hafsa Fathima Sep 30, 2019

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There was something odd about the Kentucky woman who sat next to a young Honduran mother asking for asylum in San Diego’s immigration court last week. Judge Philip Law had never seen her before. The woman wasn’t an immigration lawyer. She wasn’t even related to the single mother, Keyla. So, the judge asked, who was she and what was she doing there? “I’m Vonnette Monteith,” she said. “I know the family and I’m here to help.”

Lack Of School Bus Service Causes Controversy In Oceanside Neighborhood | Deborah Brennan Sep 27, 2019

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When their neighborhood school closed down more than a decade ago, parents from Oceanside’s Crown Heights neighborhood were desperate to maintain a bus route that kept their children from walking miles on streets marked by gang violence and dangerous traffic. So they agreed to pay a monthly fee to help fund the service. What they didn’t expect was a demand that they also sweep streets, attend mandatory community meetings and clean offices and bathrooms to earn discounts on those fees.

San Diego Has Its Own Mini Version Of Fox News - One America News Network | Kristina Davis Sep 26, 2019

Show notes

In a television studio tucked into a Bay Ho business park, Graham Ledger looks into a camera and opens with his signature line: “Stand by. The doors to the newsroom are locked and the PC police are not getting in.” He then spends the next hour eviscerating liberal politics. The Democratic presidential hopefuls are “buffoons” and “socialists,” and all this talk of climate change reform is actually “a massive plan to redistribute wealth.” In the same episode he slams California’s sex education curriculum as “sexual indoctrination” from “fascist left radical ideology” and points to “this gender nonsense going on.” Later, he congratulates the United States for being “the least racist nation.”

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