KPBS Midday Edition

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has, “failed to adequately prevent and respond to the deaths of individuals in its custody,” according to an investigation by the California State Auditor. And Hate crimes increased sharply in San Diego and across the country in recent years. Early findings show the trend grew even worse in 2021. Plus, in our weekend preview, classical music on a boat, a t...

Many health experts believe the omicron surge has peaked in San Diego. And Monday’s failure in the state Assembly to deliver on single payer healthcare highlights a lack of political will despite being a long-stated goal of state Democrats. Plus, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore retired on Thursday, we have a look at the ups and downs of his tenure. And the legendary restaurant, Pernicano’s has...

San Diego marks a new COVID-19 case milestone today, as the county is set to surpass 700,000 cases since the pandemic began. Then, a San Diego State University dean made comments on twitter about conservatives and was thrust into a national debate on academic free speech. And, the old English game of squash is giving students at a charter school in Southeast San Diego new opportunities academicall...

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria says he ordered city crews to clear a large homeless encampment in the city’s Midway district to avoid a potential health crisis. Then, a new state effort to retrofit thousands of houses in high-risk fire areas, offering up to $40,000 to cover the cost of the changes. And San Diego is the first county in the state to launch the program with 500 backcountry residences fr...

After years of preparation, San Diego’s community choice energy program will start enrolling hundreds of thousands of customers. Then, KPBS Science and Technology reporter Thomas Fudge on how San Diego is enacting the new state law that requires food scraps to be composted, instead of being sent to landfills. Later, signatures are being collected for a proposed state ballot measure that could guar...

A bill, promoted by San Diego’s California Innocence Project and now approved by the state senate, would make testimony based on disputed CSI techniques inadmissible in court. Plus, both of the journalists killed in Tijuana this month had sought help from a Baja California program aimed at protecting those who report the news — that help never came. On a lighter note, this weekend in the arts, fea...

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement. Glenn Smith, a professor of law at California Western School, joins KPBS to talk about the process of replacing him. And Phoenix is experiencing an even steeper increase in real estate prices than San Diego, but a low inventory of houses for sale locally means that prospective buyers are needing to come up with higher offers to com...

A new lawsuit was filed Monday accusing the National Football League and its owners of violating the Chargers relocation terms with the city of San Diego. Then, after a loss in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration has officially withdrawn its vaccine mandate for large businesses. Later, KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh reports on how the Navy is trying to manage this latest phase of...

San Diego County saw a slight reduction in cases over the weekend, what can this tell us? Later, demonstrations are planned today across Mexico to protest the deaths and intimidation of journalists. The latest victim, Lordes Maldonado, was killed in Tijuana Sunday. After, the San Diego Regional Task Force has postponed the annual count of people who are homeless until late next month due to the su...

San Diego ended the year with a 4.2% unemployment rate, the lowest rate since the pandemic started – even in the face of the omicron surge. Later, KPBS investigative reporter Claire Trageser looks at what is causing a childcare staffing crisis in the San Diego region. Plus, a new investigation from CalMatters finds that the state has failed to take guns away from thousands of domestic abusers, and...

In a surprising move, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore announced that he will not serve out the remainder of his term, and will instead retire effective February 3. Plus, veterans suffering from certain medical conditions became eligible for "presumptive" VA disability benefits last year, but a backlog of paperwork may complicate the issue. And, in our weekend arts preview, we'll take you to scu...

Though hospitalization rates have not reached the highs of last winter, the ongoing crush of patients is testing the resources of San Diego’s emergency departments. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria are promoting reforming conservatorship laws in an effort to address homelessness. In other news from Sacramento, state regulators are holding off on considering a propos...

The country continues to battle the surge of omicron cases as the Biden Administration is taking steps to increase the availability of test kits and N95 masks. Plus, mental fatigue is on the rise and is less avoidable as the pandemic enters its third year with the omicron variant. Next, we remember Tijuana photojournalist Margarito Martinez Esquivel who was killed Monday. Later, Microenterprise Ho...

Trash collection services resume today, following a month-long strike that saw mountains of trash piling up in Chula Vista and other parts of San Diego. Plus, a new study by Scripps Institution of Oceanography is raising the alarm about water pollution along the border coastal region. Next, why the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and local city councils hold votes on national issues that don...

Local community group Alliance San Diego hosted its annual All People's Celebration honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and KPBS spoke to keynote speaker Rebecca Cokley about issues impacting the disabled community. Next, Voice of San Diego reporter Maya Srikrishnan discusses who was left out of the recent 2020 census data despite San Diego’s growing diversity. Later, UCSF physician Dr. Linds...

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a vaccine mandate issued by the Biden administration that would have applied to companies with 100 employees or more. Legal analyst Dan Eaton breaks down why vaccine mandates are being blocked. Plus, the Chula Vista Police Department is using Chinese-made surveillance drones the Pentagon says might pose a national security risk. And, this weekend in...

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria chose to avoid much of what he called “happy talk” in his second State of the City address Wednesday night. Plus, with a new future in discussion for the Midway District, KPBS spoke with Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis about the thriving neighborhood that existed in the area in the 1940s. And KPBS’s Amita Sharma reports that Chula Vista is giving a private corporation...

Many healthcare workers are out with COVID, and state officials are now considering an order for hospitals across California to suspend some elective surgeries. Plus, the Senate is preparing to vote on two long-awaited voting rights bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Meanwhile, San Diego company TuSimple, announced late last month, that they made the world’s first...

This weekend, San Diego County hit a record of nearly 50,000 new COVID-19 cases. KPBS health reporter Matt Hoffman speaks about the surge and how hospitals are faring. Plus, the impact of the omicron variant on the local economy and how the local economy could be impacted by Gov. Newsom’s budget proposal. Finally, California Report Magazine explores the rich history of the Rainbow Sign — a groundb...

Long waits for COVID-19 testing has prompted the state to bring in help from the California National Guard and change San Diego County’s testing guidance. Plus, San Diego’s homeless shelters struggle with coronavirus outbreaks led by the highly transmissible omicron variant. Also, military medical teams have been dispatched to hospitals across the country overwhelmed by COVID-19. Meanwhile, some h...

This week marked the return of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy, as two asylum seekers were sent back to Tijuana to await the resolution of their cases. Plus, Congress ditched a controversial measure last month that would have required women to register for the Selective Service — supporters of gender-neutral registration say they'll keep working to include women. Also, our weekend arts...

One year ago today, insurrectionists swarmed the U.S. Capitol, shocking the nation, and leaving many wondering how robust our democracy really is. A new book from a local author looks at the conditions that lead to civil conflict in countries, and searches for answers to avoid them. Plus, instances of restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses temporarily closing their doors are becoming mor...

First we’ll discuss how local schools are handling the return to the classroom after the holiday COVID-19 surge and the home testing kit shortage. After, we’ll talk to Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, about some of our most pressing COVID-19 questions amidst the omicron-fueled surge. Also, while the pandemic has ravaged much of the cross-border economy, Tij...

San Diego County emergency rooms are being stretched to their limits. Meanwhile, hateful slurs have been found graffitied at the campus of San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas for the second time in only a few months, which marks the third of it’s kind to occur at a San Dieguito Union campus this academic year. Then, we hear about a new kind of THC that has emerged in the past few years—it’s called D...

This morning, the FDA recommended booster shots for 12- to 15-year olds. We talk to an infectious disease doctor about the recommendation. Plus, more than a hundred San Diego Fire Department firefighters are in isolation due to potential coronavirus exposure and its having an impact on fire services. And, scientists and volunteers from San Diego to Oregon flocked to shorelines this morning to docu...