KPBS Midday Edition

For the first time, the Mexican government is formally opposing the controversial Trump-era program known as Remain in Mexico. Then, an in-depth look at what California is spending to address homelessness, and if it’s made a difference. And, a story about how police officers at one South Bay college are working to create a community for change. Then, in California we've grown accustomed to power o...

The devastating earthquake and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria have now claimed more than 11,000 lives. Turkish expats in San Diego are raising money to help. Then, search and rescue teams from around the world are helping with the rescue efforts. What does that work entail? Next, three years into the pandemic, what do we know about long COVID? Next, a recent Los Angeles Times investigation found...

San Diego’s largest healthcare provider, Sharp, began notifying more than 60,000 patients this week that cyber criminals may have their personal information. Then, how community outcry sank a plan for a cement factory on a Port of San Diego terminal. Plus, long-time Ocean beach resident Jay Kahn, who died in 2022, left the San Diego Foundation a surprise $100 million gift in his estate. How the mo...

The state law requires any records showing discrimination by law enforcement be released to the public. The questions remains: is the public seeing everything it should? Then, Amtrak weekend services returned on Saturday for the first time since operations were suspended in October to repair a section of track along the San Clemente coast that was damaged during a storm surge. Next, California jus...

The U.S. deports roughly 300,000 people each year. Those with relatives in the United States rarely stray too far from the border. We hear from several deportees in Tijuana about life after deportation. Then, for our weekend preview we have storms, maps, tango and more.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s department last week released body camera footage from an incident that took place in 2019 in Imperial Beach. The video shows a deputy tasing a Black father who had come to a Sheriff’s DUI checkpoint to pick up his son who’d been detained along with a group of teens. Then, most people never get a chance to legally re-enter the United States after being deported. Thos...

Tuesday was a major deadline for the seven western states that rely on the Colorado River for water. The Federal Bureau of Reclamation is looking for ways to preserve the dwindling water supplies in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of the nation’s largest reservoirs. Then, when you look at San Diego’s housing market you can find a lot of luxury housing and a growing share of low-income units. But fo...

California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans held a meeting in San Diego over the weekend. The group heard public testimony and discussed questions around who should be eligible for reparations. Then, the federal government has made a $10 million investment to address overgrown forests across Southern California, but exactly how to best prepare for wildf...

Psychologists say all of us can experience vicarious trauma when we bear witness to police brutality by watching what happened to Tyre Nichols and countless others like him. Then, we’ll hear about a new women’s shelter that opened last week on the site of the former San Diego downtown library. It is being run by the National Alliance on Mental illness for San Diego and Imperial Counties. Next, San...

Whistleblowers alerted San Diego County about alleged poor treatment of employees in its public defender office in late 2020. That was two years before a jury awarded $2.6 million dollars to an ex-employee earlier this month in his wrongful termination suit. Then, for our weekend preview, we have a Oaxacan festival, piano music, palm trees, and some Scandinavian art.

Hundreds of volunteers across the county coordinated this morning to accomplish one single task: record an accurate count of the region’s homeless population. Then, the woman at the center of a national conservative media firestorm, stemming from a shower she took at the Santee YMCA, addresses the Santee city council. Plus, the small California community of Half Moon Bay is still reeling from a ma...

After nearly three years, San Diego’s COVID state of emergency is coming to an end. Then, in the wake of this week's mass shootings, there's more focus on gun violence restraining orders or red flag laws, which allow authorities to temporarily take away firearms and ammunition from people who have been reported by a family member or co-worker. Plus, students at San Diego City College now have the...

After multiple mass shootings in California, some researchers want to reframe the issue of gun violence as a public health issue. Then, on the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service removed four plants and a bird unique to San Clemente Island from protected status. And, the long and storied history of Aztec football is the subject of a new book featuring a...

The shooting in Monterey Park over the Lunar New Year weekend is serving yet another reminder of how random acts of mass violence can be. We talk about the impact mass violence has on mental health. The presence of a transgender woman in the women's locker room at the Santee YMCA has sparked national conservative media attention, and that of right wing extremists. Then, San Diego Gas and Electric...

veiled a mobile app to allow asylum seekers to schedule appointments for entry. Then, for our weekend arts preview, we have some "blue sky" artwork, a poetry reading, harp music and a few options to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released their plan this week for Friendship Park, taking community input into account, and revising a plan that caused a public outcry. But park advocates are not satisfied, and said it furthers the border wall plan set forth by former president Donald Trump. And, Imagine: You are at the grocery store, ready to check out. You put your card in the reader. It is d...

The University of San Diego held its 39th Annual Economic Roundtable to take stock of where the national and local economies may be headed in 2023. Next, the U.S. military is struggling to meet recruitment goals. With fewer young people enlisting, now the Navy is allowing older people to join. Then, new research from the UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy suggests that salary transparency c...

A pair of San Diego-based companies were recently awarded federal grants for their efforts to improve electric vehicle batteries. Next, we talk to LA Times reporter Sammy Roth about Imperial County farmland being used to generate solar power. Then, some of the most popular New Year's resolutions are ones about getting in shape. KPBS Health Reporter Matt Hoffman takes a look at how some are getting...

The 35th Annual All Peoples Celebration on Monday was centered around Dr. King’s words, “Let’s build bridges, not walls.” We hear from keynote speaker, bestselling author and columnist, Steve Phillips. Then, court transcripts show San Diego County Public Defender Randy Mize admitted under oath last month that he signed off on an investigative report knowing it contained false statements. KPBS Inve...

While the recent rain wreaked havoc across the state, there is one small silver lining - California’s drought conditions are improving (slightly). Then, almost daily, weapons, equipment and other supplies depart the U.S. to support the Ukrainian military and civilian authorities. And finally, in our weekend preview, we have an Edgar Allan Poe musical for kids, a special visual art and classical mu...

We speak with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria about the commitments he outlined in his 2023 State of The City Address. Then, this year’s flu season has so far been a doozy. By the time November was over, it might have felt like everyone you know had the flu. But is it as bad as we think? And, the Colorado River, a central source of water for much of the Western United States, is drying up. We hear abo...

After a long series of votes and political wrangling to select the new House Speaker, the new Congress got underway this week. San Diego Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, who represents California’s 51st Congressional district, also became the youngest member in the democratic leadership in this new Republican-led House. Then, Bob McElroy, CEO of the Alpha Project, has worked with homeless residents for...

Governor Newsom’s proposed budget plan for 2023 into 2024 includes cuts to programs to close a projected $22.5 billion deficit. Among those cuts are 20,000 new child care slots intended for California’s neediest families. New reporting from The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at how California’s child care subsidies have fallen short, leaving many unable to afford child care at all. Then, the need f...

Forecasters with the National Weather Service are calling it a “relentless parade of cyclones” as more severe weather threatens Northern and Central California. An atmospheric river with high winds will dump another 1.5 inches of rain over the next two days in San Diego. Then, border officials anticipate that the PedWest pedestrian crossing reopening will help ease congestion at the San Ysidro Por...

San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez is just a few weeks into the job as the county’s top law enforcement leader. She takes over as the Department is tasked with bringing change to a jail system with some of the highest numbers of in-custody deaths in the state. Then, for our weekend arts preview, we have a special performance exhibition, shadow puppets, classical music and even some ways to kick star...