Choose your location
Voice of San Diego
Politics Report: Elo-Rivera Pulls Plug on Flood Prevention Ballot Measure
Hello, this is environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer. Scott went on vacation so I’m stealing his Politics Report to bring you this news. The city of San Diego no longer plans to ask voters to tax themselves in November in the name of stormwater and flood prevention. On Friday, San...
When San Diego Fought Over Banning Gay Teachers
Nearly a half-century ago this summer, local voters seemed eager to approve a California ballot initiative that would ban gay teachers from classrooms unless they hid in the closet. Our state leaned Republican in the 1970s, and San Diego County was an even darker shade of red: We hadn’t supported...
City Attorney Torches Proposed Mega-Shelter Lease
City Attorney Mara Elliott’s Office issued a scathing review of the proposed mega-shelter lease Friday afternoon. Among the laundry list of issues Assistant City Attorney Jean Jordan flagged in her memo:. The Gloria administration’s move to quickly send the lease to the City Council meant city attorneys couldn’t offer...
Homelessness Leader Weighs in on the Mega-Shelter
Our Lisa Halverstadt chatted late Friday with Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, after she toured the site where Mayor Todd Gloria envisions a 1,000-bed shelter. Kohler designed the Convention Center shelter operation during the pandemic that, at its height, temporarily housed 1,355 people. Gloria has often touted that initiative as proof that the city can deliver a successful large shelter operation.
Sacramento Report: How to Have Our Coast and Develop It Too
Some of the most exclusive real estate in the country is under debate, as state officials consider ways to spur construction of affordable housing in the coastal zone. Legislation by Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-San Diego, aimed to streamline that process. But recent amendments softening its language have left him unsure if he still supports his own bill.
Four Big Disputes Dogging the City’s Quest to Open Its Biggest Shelter Yet
The City Council will decide Monday whether to proceed with Mayor Todd Gloria’s plan to convert a Middletown warehouse into a 1,000-bed homeless shelter campus – and it will have to wade through big disagreements over the city’s plans. Gloria wants to deliver the city’s largest-ever long-term...
Bird Nerds Take War Against Mission Bay Fireworks to Councilmembers
San Diego Councilmember Joe LaCava said the city Council Environment Committee would look into the alleged deaths of seabirds following Fourth of July fireworks in Mission Bay. “We’ll talk with subject matter experts to better understand what was so different about this year,” LaCava said before the committee on Thursday...
San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera’s New Side Hustle
For the past 16 years, Richard Barrera has served on San Diego Unified’s Board of Education. Over his long tenure, he’s become an outsized influence on the board, but now, he’s got a new appointment. State Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond has brought Barrera on as a senior policy advisor.
Is Your School Doing Something Cool? Brag About it
Schools are always changing, and rightly so. Every generation faces different challenges, and every year brings innovations to try to meet those challenges. In the shadow of the pandemic, during which students faced unprecedented upheavals that set many behind, new approaches are even more vital. But what do those innovations...
Song of the Week: ‘We Conquer The World’
Sometimes starting a band isn’t about making it big. Sometimes you start a band because you really like to play music. Crazy concept, I know. That’s how I’ve long felt Bang Bang Jet Away approached songwriting. The duo, comprised of two long-time San Diego musicians, has quietly...
Sara Jacobs Could Be the Next Nancy Pelosi
During Sara Jacobs’ run for Congress in 2020, people pegged her as a centrist Democrat. Not only was she a billionaire’s granddaughter and thus a presumed agent of the country’s most well-established interests, the party’s center was rallying around her. Meanwhile, leftist icons like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed her opponent, then-City Council President Georgette Gómez.
Bird Activists Ignite New War Against San Diego Fireworks
The latest in a decades-long campaign by environmentalists to eradicate pyrotechnics in San Diego has a new battleground: Mission Bay. Soaked carcasses of dead unborn, chick and adult elegant terns washed ashore at Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve just days after San Diego SeaWorld and Discover Mission Bay set off well over 500 pounds of explosives over the Fourth of July weekend. Bird biologists uncovered their bodies and reported the incident to the San Diego Audubon Society, which subsequently called on the California Coastal Commission to revoke SeaWorld San Diego’s fireworks permit through most of the breeding season.
City Budget Analysts Slam New, Improved Mega Shelter Deal
Next week, Mayor Todd Gloria will ask the City Council to approve a proposed lease for a 1,000-bed shelter that’s more favorable than the initial deal he pitched a few months ago. But independent budget analysts for the city and a veteran industrial broker who once tried to lease...
Imperial Beach Students: Everybody Deserves Clean Air and Water
We are a group of students, most of whom attend Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach. During our spring semester, we worked together with scientists at UC San Diego’s Airborne Institute, learning how to use air sensors to better understand the air we’re breathing. We recorded particulate matter counts, which measure a mix of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air, and photographed how air and water quality are impacting our daily lives.
The County Was Right to Reverse Course on VMT Mitigation
San Diego County adopted a General Plan in 2011 that incorporates exhaustive studies on land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, safety, environmental justice and air quality. Together, these components outline the growth pattern for our unincorporated areas of San Diego. The General Plan adopted a village concept, contrary to sprawl development we might have seen in the past. A village concept incorporates growth in the village cores. Think Fallbrook, Valley Center, Lakeside, Ramona, Spring Valley – village centers with services, jobs, and through the county’s General Plan, the corresponding housing.
Why Proposition 47 is a Success
In his January State of the City address, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said we “should be locking up criminals, not laundry detergent,” an unduly callous statement meant to discredit Proposition 47, which passed into law in 2014 with the support of 55 percent of San Diego’s voters. Ironically, in the same speech, Gloria proudly declared San Diego “one of the safest large cities in America.” Two months later, he praised the two-year downward trend in San Diego’s crime rate.
Morning Report: Escondido Will Put Sales Tax Initiative on Ballot
Escondido leaders voted unanimously on Wednesday to put a 20-year, one-cent sales tax citizens’ initiative in front of voters this November. This will be the second time Escondido voters will decide on a sales tax increase. Voters rejected a similar ballot measure in November 2022. Before that, city staff unsuccessfully floated a different sales tax measure to the City Council in 2020.
Special Politics Report: What San Diego Democratic Delegates Think
In the weeks since President Joe Biden’s faltering performance in his first debate against former President Donald Trump stoked voters’ longstanding misgivings about his age and mental acuity, Democrats nationwide have been panicking. From George Clooney to elected officials to a coterie of podcasters and columnists, many in the Democratic cognoscenti have called on Biden to step aside.
Morning Report: Peters Pushes to Drop Biden
Last week, San Diego Rep. Scott Peters said he needed to see a plan from President Joe Biden and his campaign about how he could realistically win the presidential race amid concerns about his age, lagging poll numbers and a disastrous debate performance. Thursday, Peters joined a growing list of...
Morning Report: A Sexual Abuse Allegation That Wasn’t Reported
“When Krysta Corona found out her cousin was teaching at Champion Gymnastics and Cheer in Santee, she knew she had to tell somebody,” Will Huntsberry and Tigist Layne report in their newest story. Corona says her cousin, Derek May, sexually abused her when she was four or five years...
Voice of San Diego
2K+
Posts
4M+
Views
Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization delivering groundbreaking investigative journalism and in-depth analysis for the San Diego region.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.