San Diego News Now

An examination of local police records shows that from 2012 through 2019, officers from San Diego County police agencies shot at people in moving cars 20 times. That’s despite the fact that police training experts say it is one of the most hazardous things a cop can do. Meanwhile, the injunction against vaccine mandates for the San Diego Unified School District will be short lived, according to le...

A KPBS analysis of police records shows more than two-thirds of use-of-force incidents over a 15-year period occurred in ZIP codes south of Interstate 8. And nearly a quarter were concentrated in just a handful of neighborhoods in the southeast part of the city. Meanwhile, as the Biden administration plans a re-start of the controversial Remain in Mexico program that sends asylum seekers back acro...

The San Diego Black Homebuyers Program helped Tyshawn Cook buy his first home. The program provides grants to help with down payments or closing costs. Cook is putting equity back into his new home by investing in renovations, something that's only possible because of the money he saved with the grant. Meanwhile, the state of California has given $2.6 million to UC San Diego to recruit Native Amer...

Racial covenants shaped San Diego housing for decades. Our partners at inewsource bring us the story of one Chinese-American family that managed to purchase a home in 1947 despite racial restrictions. Meanwhile, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency was in Mexico this week discussing how the two countries will stop the cross-border sewage flows that are increasingly polluting south bay b...

Foreign citizens who are vaccinated can now cross the US-Mexico border. But asylum seekers still cannot cross, even if they are vaccinated, because a controversial Trump-era public health order remains in place. Meanwhile, students at UCSD are hoping the latest City Council redistricting proposal will be changed. It would split the school’s east and west campuses into two separate districts. Plus,...

The Blue Line trolley extension is now open -- it could be a lifeline for UCSD students and others who already live and work near a trolley stop. But many of the new stations remain difficult to access by foot, wheelchair, or bike. Meanwhile, The Airport Authority says the palm trees in Ocean beach are, or will soon be, a hazard to aviation and must come down. Homeowners in the area say the airpor...

Some San Diegans are choosing to remove racially restrictive covenants from their deeds; others are preserving the language so that racist history is never forgotten. A California statute has eased the process to change deeds and is opening up conversations about the past. Meanwhile, nearly 20% of city staff are still unvaccinated and risk losing their jobs if they miss a December 1 deadline to ge...

In part two of our KPBS series on racial housing covenants in San Diego: Rancho Santa Fe. Meanwhile, the university teachers union has reached what it is calling a historic agreement with the University of California. Plus, lightening San Diego’s carbon footprint -- Urban planners and academicians have drawn up an initial plan for the region to significantly cut back on emissions by 2045.

Buried in the deeds of homes and subdivisions across San Diego County are racially restrictive covenants that serve as stark reminders of the region’s racist past. Meanwhile, parents are suing the California Department of Education to allow distance learning to support their medically fragile children. Plus, Broadway San Diego returned to live performances last night with a production of Hairspray...

In this special bonus episode of San Diego news Now: Chuck Marohn is president of the nonprofit Strong Towns and author of the new book "Confessions of a Recovering Engineer," in which he picks apart everything that he sees wrong with his profession. Too often, he says, streets are designed to accommodate as many cars as possible at the fastest speed possible. Pedestrian and bike safety are often...

A self-professed recovering engineer critiques the design of modern roads. Meanwhile, it’s National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week. Father Joe's Villages and Mission Federal Credit Union are partnering to bring awareness to these pressing issues in San Diego. Plus, with the COP26 climate conference finished, global leaders now have the task of following up on ambitious promises made to help...

Rising prices have forced restaurants and even food suppliers to get creative. Meanwhile, a first draft of a new congressional map was released last week with the approval of California’s independent redistricting commission. Plus, the latest episode in a series of veterans stories told in their own voices.

Fire departments around the state are struggling with staffing shortages. COVID-19 is one reason, but San Diego's Fire Chief says there are a lot of other complicating factors hurting the firefighting workforce. Meanwhile, a father and son were reunited in San Ysidro on Veteran’s Day after being separated for nearly two decades. Plus, when COVID-19 hit, funding plummeted for Arts For Learning San...

At a Tuesday night meeting, community members demanded Oceanside's chief of police make a policy to de-escalate potential violent encounters mandatory, rather than suggested – changing the word ‘should’ de-escalate to ‘shall’. Meanwhile, the San Diego Redistricting Commission is honing in on two new City Council district maps as they race to meet a mid-December deadline. Plus, this veterans day we...

Cross-border COVID travel restrictions have kept Tijuana shoppers from visiting San Ysidro stores, which means a large number of businesses near the border have closed or have been struggling to stay open. Business owners are hoping that will change now that the travel restrictions at the border have been lifted. Plus: California’s economy is roaring back, food banks are battling rising food price...

The Environmental Protection Agency, has decided to spend more than $630 million to expand the existing international sewage plant at the border, build a new sewage plant nearby and add other sewage infrastructure near the border. Plus: climate change at home, hiring more teachers for kids with special needs and more of the local news you need.

The U.S.-Mexico border is set to reopen today for all non-essential travel. Long lines and wait times are expected. Meanwhile, carbon emissions related to travel have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. And, the trucking industry is facing a 80-thousand driver shortage. We’ll check in with one local trucking school trying to help get more drivers on the road.

El Centro is in Imperial County, situated on the edge of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. But the region is at risk of becoming another type of desert — a banking desert. Meanwhile, human rights advocates delivered a letter to District Attorney Summer Stephan on Thursday requesting an investigation into secret Border Patrol ‘shadow units’ that allegedly covered up agents' misconduct. A similar...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing uncertain job market has left many San Diego County school districts scrambling for teachers. That means good money for those willing and qualified to work as a substitute. Meanwhile, ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border are gearing up for lifting travel restrictions on November 8th. And, as vaccines for children 5 to 11 get emergency authorization, how...

The county hired nearly 1,000 people and spent millions on contract tracing, but the program aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 was too small to actually meet that goal. Still, experts say contact tracing can and will be effective in dealing with flare-ups of the disease. Meanwhile, local researchers are both hopeful and apprehensive about the climate conference underway in Scotland. Plus, f...

The VA is preventing veterans from receiving outside medical treatments–that’s in part two of an inewsource investigation. In San Diego, the VA refused payments for ketamine treatments for dozens of veterans with severe depression because it couldn’t keep track of paperwork. Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has released its annual report on bullying of Muslim children in Califo...

We have part one of a two part investigation by our partners at inewsource, that found that the Veterans Administration is preventing veterans from receiving treatment at hospitals outside the VA system. Also, community groups are hosting vigils across California for Día de Los Muertos to honor those who died at ICE detention centers. Plus, the story of one family trying to get back land they lost...

Congressman Scott Peters weighs in on the never-ending negotiations over an infrastructure bill in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Lincoln high school will not be playing Cathedral in their scheduled football game tonight. Lincoln cancelled the game and took a forfeit loss as a result. Their Coach, David Dunn, says more needs to be done towards healing the damage done after a racist incident last April...

The pandemic created massive challenges for educators and doctors. So what was it like to attend medical school during the pandemic? We take a look at some med school students at UC San Diego. Meanwhile, Mayor Todd Gloria says he wants the city to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2035. And, vaccines for children ages 5-11 could be approved as early as next week. We speak with a local expert abou...

Black renters are more rent burdened in San Diego than in anywhere else in the country, according to a new study by Zillow. Meanwhile, the family of a Scripps Ranch high school student is suing the San Diego Unified school district for religious discrimination over the covid-19 vaccine mandate. Plus, San Diego’s Asian Film Festival returns as an in-person event.