Columbus
Voice of San Diego
The Case for Water Rate Increases
Most San Diegans don’t often think about the journey water takes before reaching our faucets. It involves hundreds of miles of pipes, multiple treatment plants and countless moving parts to deliver a reliable water supply to our region, which has nowhere near enough natural water sources to sustain us.
Morning Report: Supes Kill Spring Valley Tiny Home Project
County supervisors voted Tuesday to nix a tiny home project in Spring Valley backed with a $10 million pledge from the state. Instead, they want to examine a Lemon Grove site and persuade the state to still send the money. But other regions with shovel-ready projects may get it. The...
Song of the Week: ‘Your Smile is a Hoax’
I can never get enough grimy, chaotic tunes. The feeling of being subsumed by some bone rattling fuzz is, quite simply, unmatched. Luckily for me, Psychic Graveyard’s new album, “Wilting,” has added some tracks to my playlist that perfectly fit that craving – and just in time for summer, no less.
How California Can Bring Insurance Coverage to High Risk Areas
This post originally ran in the Sacramento Report. The state Department of Insurance last week released a plan to increase insurance policies for areas with high wildfire risk. The plan includes a statewide map showing areas where wildfire risk policies are concentrated. Nineteen San Diego areas made the list, including...
Morning Report: Mega Shelter Lease Headed to City Council
Mayor Todd Gloria’s plan to open a 1,000-bed homeless shelter in Middletown appears to be moving forward. After a fourth closed-door City Council discussion of a proposed lease with the owner of the warehouse Gloria’s eyeing for the shelter, the mayor and Council President Sean Elo-Rivera released a joint statement saying Gloria will request a public hearing – and that Elo-Rivera, who has publicly said he isn’t necessarily on boad with the shelter pitch, “has committed to efficiently processing that request.”
Border Report: Tijuana’s Tough Former Police Chief, Turned Fugitive, Will Return to Lead Cops
Of all the personalities that emerged from Mexico’s drug wars, none compares with Julián Leyzaola, the retired army lieutenant colonel who headed Tijuana’s police department from 2008 to 2010. He was Tijuana’s tough-talking police chief and then secretary of public safety. He endured repeated death threats as he called out criminals, rushed to crime scenes and purged hundreds of his own officers accused of ties to drug traffickers.
Sacramento Report: Housing Advocates Clash with Coastal Commission
This post has been updated. Amid California’s crushing housing shortage, Circulate San Diego is blasting the Coastal Commission for decisions it claims undermine efforts to build affordable homes and fight climate change in coastal areas. The San Diego nonprofit unveiled its findings last week in a report that says...
Morning Report: Will Supes Ditch Tiny Homes Site?
The county of San Diego’s willingness to do anything significant in providing shelter for homeless residents in areas outside of cities was thrown into question recently when Nora Vargas, the chair of the Board of Supervisors, announced she would try to rescind a plan to place 150 sleeping cabins on a Spring Valley lot where homeless people are already congregating.
Politics Report: Taxes Turmoil
Sacramento legislators are getting nervous about one of the big tax policy measures they put on the ballot for November and their effort to change it could kill the city of San Diego’s nascent effort to ask voters to approve a stormwater tax. It was a hell of a...
Morning Report: District Promoted Principal After Accusations of Misconduct
Earlier this year, local prosecutors shocked the Hoover High School community when they accused an associate principal of sexual misconduct with minors. They also alleged he possessed child pornography. But maybe not everyone was shocked. Our Jakob McWhinney investigated and has uncovered that, nearly two years before the arrest of...
Hoover Assistant Principal Arrested for Child Pornography Was Accused of Sexually Harassing a Student Years Earlier
On March 20, the San Diego Police Department arrested Hoover High’s Associate Principal Charles De Freitas. In a complaint, prosecutors alleged De Freitas possessed child pornography, sent pornography to a minor and contacted a minor with “intent to commit a sexual offense.” De Freitas has since pled not guilty.
Morning Report: Tracks Everyone Needs But Nobody Wants
There’s a lot of heartache in North County over 1.7 miles of train track currently running along the crumbling cliffs of Del Mar. The San Diego Association of Governments (which decides how to expand public transportation) really thinks boring a train tunnel below Del Mar neighborhoods is the best plan. Most Del Martians and their elected leaders aren’t fans of that idea.
Morning Report: Who’s Laughing at LAFCO, Now?
The local state agency in charge of controlling the boundaries of cities and most special districts is no longer keeping a low profile. In 1963, the California legislature created the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, to settle border disputes and bring new cities and special districts into (or out of) existence. It also controls when and where public services go.
Environment Report: San Diego Provoked a Budget Battle at MWD That Helped Take Down Its GM
Hello, this is editor-in-chief Scott Lewis. I didn’t do a Politics Report this weekend because I couldn’t quite pull this story together by Friday. Instead, I have stolen the Environment Report. The letter that brought down Adel Hagekhalil, the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, is getting...
This Once-Quiet Agency is Less Quietly Building An Empire in San Diego
A once low-profile political organization the California legislature set up to rein in sprawling suburbs and settle border disputes is picking new fights in San Diego. Its critics accuse the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, of empire building. Its champions say LAFCO is a welcome new referee in long-standing conflicts with unbudging bullies.
Morning Report: Sacramento Fights over Fixing Prop. 47
A curious legislative fight has broken out in Sacramento over a package of public safety bills and an anti-crime ballot initiative would both tackle retail theft and drug offenses. Republicans say Democrats are forcing voters to choose one or the other. On the one side: the legislation includes bills to...
Sacramento Report: What’s Really Going on with Prop. 47 Reform
A suite of state bills aimed at curtailing shoplifting, “smash-and-grab robberies” and fentanyl trafficking hangs in the balance amid a partisan fight over a ballot measure covering the same ground. Democrats argue the ballot measure would undo some aspects of California’s criminal justice reforms that should remain in...
Morning Report: Phantom Ballot Initiatives
Former San Diego City Councilmember and now-state Assembly candidate Carl DeMaio is a prolific pusher of statewide ballot measures. But as our Tigist Layne reveals, he doesn’t have a winning track record when it comes to qualifying them for the ballot. Layne found that DeMaio failed to deliver any signatures on five ballot measures he’s pushed since 2015.
Assembly Candidate Carl DeMaio Keeps Failing at Ballot Initiatives – On Purpose?
On Aug. 15, 2023, DeMaio, who is running for the 75th Assembly District seat, announced he was going to put a California voter ID initiative on the November 2024 ballot. The initiative would have amended the California Constitution to restrict voting to people with a valid, current driver’s license or other government ID.
Father Joe’s to Replace 350-Bed Shelter with Detox Facility
Father Joe’s Village’s Paul Mirabile Center has for years sheltered up to 350 homeless San Diegans each night. Now, the nonprofit is preparing to step away from the city shelter contract it has held for the East Village facility for nearly a decade and instead offer detox and sober living beds backed by private donors.
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.