KPBS Midday Edition

A large area around the Pechanga Arena, commonly known as the Sports Arena, is slated to become a new entertainment district, with a new arena, parks, retail and housing. But guidelines implementing a new state law seem to put the city’s plans in limbo. Plus, the Pentagon ordered all service branches to conduct a stand down to discuss racial extremism. They were supposed to be done by the beginnin...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports 19,000 unaccompanied children and teenagers entered the U.S. last month, the largest monthly total ever. Plus, KPBS reporter Tania Thorne looks into some of the barriers preventing the Latino community from seeking mental health help. And across California, more than 200 people have died of COVID-19 in state prisons. R.J. Donovan prison in Otay Mesa has b...

La Mesa City Councilwoman Dr. Akilah Weber was close to being elected to the 79th Assembly District seat on Wednesday, a position previously held by her mother, Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber. Plus, how California’s restaurants are preparing for a June 15 reopening.. And California will soon allow indoor live performances and events in counties outside the state's most-restrictive reopening...

On June 15 California will do away with the color-coded COVID-19 safety system and plans to fully reopen the state, as long as the vaccine supply holds and infection rates remain low. Plus, the March 2 tragedy in Imperial Valley where 13 people were killed in an human smuggling attempt is a tragic consequence of the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. Also, San Diego County schools are exp...

According to the San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency, 1,022,026 San Diegans — or 38% — have received at least one dose of the two doses Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Plus, the president's $2 trillion infrastructure plan would invest heavily in public transit and intercity rail. And the San Diego Commission On Police Practices submitted 19 proposed changes involving SDPD's policy on how o...

The first week of witness testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial and repeated showings of the video of the former police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd have been retraumatizing for many people. Plus, the public agency that manages the tidelands around San Diego Bay is considering adjusting the way it does business to include environmental justice. And, a look at the art events for this...

People 50 and older are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine in San Diego. But, the state still faces supply shortages. Also, opening day kicked off in San Diego with the Padres facing the Arizona Diamonds. In Tijuana, Haitian asylum-seekers say they face racism and descrimination on both sides of the border. San Diego Pride will once again go virtual due to the pandemic and a preview of “The Grea...

Nearly 30 years after César Chávez's death, a key part of his legacy is in jeopardy. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case surrounding a 1975 California law that affords union organizers limited access to farms to organize workers. Plus, nearly three-quarters of all inmates in California have not been convicted of any crimes and are sitting in jail waiting for their day in court. A...

In the past week, coronavirus cases have risen by as much as 12% nationwide. Will a rise happen in California too? Plus, the California Supreme court ruled that keeping people behind bars simply because they cannot pay a set bail amount is unconstitutional. And, thousands of people across the county get CalFresh, commonly known as food stamps, to help them buy food. But a KPBS investigative report...

The first 500 teenage girls arrived at the convention center Saturday night. Services for the teens, such as family reunification, education and health care, will be provided by a mix of government agencies and local nonprofit organizations. Plus, data gathered by The San Diego Union-Tribune revealed that police officers and sheriff’s deputies disproportionately target minorities for stops, search...

California is expanding vaccine eligibility to anyone 50 and over starting April 1, and anyone 16 and up on April 15. Plus, San Diego Unified students will return to campus either two or four days a week in April, depending on the number of families who want to participate in in-person instruction. And in San Diego weekend arts: SDMA’s Young Art exhibition, a virtual piano concert, Coronado Playho...

The Brazilian variant of COVID-19, which caused a deadly spike in cases in that country, has been found in San Diego. Plus, California assemblyman Rob Bonta has been chosen to become the state’s next attorney general. Upon his appointment, Bonta would be the first Filipino American to occupy the position. And some doctors are seeing a disturbing spike in lethal alcoholic liver disease, especially...

San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten was questioned by senators in a confirmation hearing for the position of deputy U.S. Secretary of Education Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, a group back in San Diego protested her nomination. Plus, UCSD Assistant Professor Christen Sasaki, Ph. D., joined Midday Edition to talk about the intersection of racism and sexism against Asian Amer...

As the nation mourns another mass shooting less than a week, we ask a mass shooting survivor about the psychological consequences on a nation already in the midst of a mental health crisis. Plus, the San Diego Convention Center will be used to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children seeking asylum in the U.S. Also, a South Bay health care leader is being recognized for her work during the...

San Diego State will open a COVID-19 vaccination site at Viejas Arena Tuesday. Plus, Jacumba Hot Springs residents are fighting back against a solar panel installation project that would take up 650 acres at the edge of town. And lawmakers are considering ending protections for the critically endangered vaquita porpoise after an altercation between conservationists and fishermen turned fatal. Then...

Researchers at UC San Diego estimate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of COVID-19. Plus, distance learning during the pandemic has only worsened students' achievement gap from marginalized communities and those growing up in privilege. But could there be some long-term benefits to this experience? And this weekend in th...

The IRS is delaying the 2020 tax filing deadline until May 17. How will provisions in the latest stimulus bill will affect your taxes? Plus, Moderna has begun testing its COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12, another step to getting everyone protected. Then, San Diego’s freeways and public transportation were empty in the early days of the pandemic. Traffic and transit ridership are now recoverin...

The repercussions of a shooting rampage in Atlanta Tuesday are being felt in Asian-American and Pacific Islander-American communities across the U.S. including in San Diego County. Plus, COVID-19 has not only crushed many small San Diego businesses, but in some cases, destroyed family wealth meant to sustain future generations. And an infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Health describes...

San Diego County will move back into the less restrictive red tier of the state's COVID-19 reopening blueprint Wednesday. Plus, our series on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic continues with a look at how major health care organizations responded. And we speak to the founder of UC San Diego Health's post-COVID-19 clinic about what we are learning about the lingering effects of COVI...

It’s been just over a year since COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic. A year of anxiety, hardship, confusion and loss. A year like no other.

Supporters of the San Pasqual Academy in Escondido are calling on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to help the school for foster youth stay open. Plus, artificial tide pools may help keep rising sea levels from flooding the land around San Diego Bay. And our weekend arts picks: City Ballet, Philipp Scholz Rittermann, a dance film reflection on a year of closures and the acoustic rock of G...

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health. Plus, protesters gathered outside the San Diego Police Department headquarters Wednesday night after a video surfaced that appears to show an officer pointing his gun at a young boy during a traffic stop in Hillcrest this week...

Governor Gavin Newsom urged Californians to dream of brighter days during his annual State of the State address, this year from an empty Dodgers Stadium. Plus, a North County mobile crisis response program is expanding county wide by this summer. And, a new report from UC San Diego Health suggests that long-standing tests used to determine lung capacity are actually rife with archaic and, in some...

Sweetwater Union High in the South Bay voted on a school reopening plan Monday night while Poway Unified and others will have to hold off on plans to bring back high schoolers. Plus, a day in the life of a teacher in Oakland, California and how she deals with remote teaching during the pandemic. And, voting began Monday in the special election to fill the 79th Assembly District seat vacated by Shi...

New CDC guidance indicates those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can gather indoors in some circumstances but should keep wearing masks in public. Plus, about 700 homeless people sheltered for months at the San Diego Convention Center are scheduled to move into smaller shelters starting March 22. And surveys show that Black Californians are a lot more reluctant to get the coronavirus vaccine tha...